Bacteria firmly attached to the gastrointestinal epithelium during the pre-weaning phase may show a significant impact on nutrient processing, immunity parameters, health and feed efficiency of lambs during post-weaning phases. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe the differences in the ileal epimural microbiota (e.g. total bacteria, Prevotella spp., Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp.) of fattening lambs promoted by early feed restriction during the suckling phase trying to elucidate some of the underlying mechanisms behind changes in feed efficiency during the fattening period. A total of 24 Merino lambs (average BW 4.81±0.256 kg) were used, 12 of them (ad libitum, ADL) kept permanently in individual pens with their mothers, whereas the other 12 lambs were separated from their dams for 9 h each day to be exposed to milk restriction (RES). After weaning (BW=15 kg) all the animals were penned individually, offered the same complete pelleted diet (35 g/kg BW per day) and slaughtered at a BW of 27 kg. During the fattening period, reduced gain : feed ratio (0.320 v. 0.261, P<0.001) was observed for the RES group. Moreover, increments of Prevotella spp. were detected in the ileal epimural microbiota of RES lambs (P<0.05). There were also higher numbers of infiltrated lymphocytes (T and B cells) in the ileal lamina propria (P<0.05), a higher M-cell labelling intensity in ileal Peyer’s patches domes (P<0.05) and a trend towards a thickening of the submucosa layer when compared with the ADL group (P=0.057). Some other immunological parameters, such as an increased immunoglobulin A (IgA) production (pg IgA/µg total protein) and increments in CD45+ cells were also observed in the ileum of RES group (P<0.05), whereas transforming growth factor β and toll-like receptor gene expression was reduced (P<0.05). In conclusion, early feed restriction during the suckling phase promoted changes in ileal epimural microbiota and several immunity parameters that could be related to differences in feed efficiency traits during the fattening period of Merino lambs.
