143 Supplemental effects of whey permeate on growth performance and gut health of nursery pigs

Abstract

Abstract Lactose or milk oligosaccharides in milk products may enhance gut health and thus growth of nursery pigs. This study aimed to evaluate supplemental effects of increasing levels of whey permeate on growth performance and gut health in nursery pigs during 7 to 11 kg BW. 1,200 pigs at 7.5 kg BW were allotted to 6 treatments based on a randomized complete block design using BW of pen as blocks. Treatment diets were formulated to meet NRC nutrient requirements with 6 levels of whey permeate (0, 3.75, 7.50, 11.25, 15.00, and 18.75%) and fed to pigs for 11 d. Feed intake and BW were measured during 11 d, and 1 pig per pen were euthanized to collect the jejunum to evaluate TNF-α, IL-8, morphology, digestive enzyme activity, crypt cell proliferation rate, and microbiota. Data were analyzed using contrasts in the MIXED procedure and a broken-line analysis in NLIN procedure of SAS. Increasing whey permeate linearly increased (P < 0.05) ADG (349 to 414 g/d) and G:F (0.783 to 0.851), tended to linearly increase (P = 0.062) ADFI (442 to 484 g/d), linearly increased (P < 0.05) crypt cell proliferation rate (27.8 to 37.0%), linearly decreased (P < 0.05) lactase activity (15.84 to 6.60 U/mg), and tended to linearly decrease (P = 0.082) crypt depth (268 to 251 μm). Using a broken line analysis, the optimum supplementation level of whey permeate was 13.60% for G:F. Supplementation of whey permeate increased (P < 0.05) IL-8 (170 to 209 pg/mg) and decreased (P < 0.05) Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio (6.24 to 3.24) in the jejunum. In conclusion, supplementation of whey permeate enhanced growth performance and also positively affected gut health by modulating inflammatory response and microbiota in the jejunum of nursery pigs from 7 to 11 kg BW.