摘要Ferulic acid(FA)and vanillic acid(VA)are considered as major phenolic metabolites of cyanidin 3-glucoside,a polyphenol that widely exists in plants that possess a protective effect against oxidative stress and inflammation in our previous study.This study aimed to investigate the effect of FA and VA on inflammation,gut barrier function,and growth performance in a weaned piglet model challenged with lipopolysaccharide(LPS).Thirty-six piglets(PIC 337×C48,28 d of age)were randomly allocated into 3 treatments with 6 replicate pens(2 piglets per pen).They were fed with a basal diet or a diet containing 4,000 mg/kg of FA or VA.Dietary supplementation of VA significantly increased average daily gain(ADG)(P＜0.05).Both FA and VA decreased serum levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances(TBARS),interlukin(IL)-1β,IL-2,IL-6,and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-α(P＜0.05),and enhanced the expression of tight junction protein oclaudin(P＜0.05).Analysis of gut microbiota indicated that both FA and VA increased the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio alongside reducing the relative abundance of the Pre-votellaceae family including Prevotella 9 and Prevotella 2 genera,but enriched the Lachoiraceaea family including the Lachnospiraceae FCS020 group(P＜0.05).Moreover,VA reduced the relative abundance of Prevotella 7 and Prevotella 1 but enriched Lachnospira,Eubacterium eligens group,and Eubacterium xylanophilum group(P＜0.05),while FA showed a limited effect on these genera.The results demon-strated that both VA and FA could alleviate inflammation and oxidative stress,but only VA has a sig-nificant positive effect on the growth performance of LPS-challenged piglets potentially through modulating gut microbiota.