153 Effect of dietary live yeast supplementation on growth performance, diarrhea severity, antioxidant status and immunological parameters of weaned piglets

Abstract

Abstract The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast as a substitute to AGP on intestinal health and performance of piglets. A total of 192 piglets weaned at 28 d of age were randomly assigned into one of four treatment groups with 8 pens/ treatment and 6 pigs/pen. Piglets were supplemented with either a regular nursery diet with two phase feeding (Phase 1: d1-d14 and Phase 2: d15-d28) (CON); CON diet supplemented with 75mg/kg Chlortetracycline plus ZnO 2000 mg/kg in phase 1 and 160 mg/kg in phase 2 (AGP); Con diet supplemented with 2kg/ton live yeast in both phases (LY); Con diet plus live yeast 1kg/ton in both phases plus ZnO 2000 mg/kg in phase 1 and 160 mg/kg in phase 2 (LY-ZnO). During Phase 1, LY and LY-ZnO group had significantly higher ADG (p< 0.01). In Phase 2 only the LY group has a significantly higher ADG (P=0.02). The LY and LY-ZnO group had also better feed efficiency (P< 0.05) during phase 1. On the other hand, the CON group had significantly higher (P< 0.01) diarrhea score. Test on antioxidant status has not shown any significant difference between the groups for most parameters measured; however, the concentration of Malondialdehyde (MDA, a marker for oxidative stress) was significantly decreased (P< 0.01) in the LY and LY-ZnO group on day 28. Furthermore, superoxide dismutase (SOD, the most powerful antioxidant) was significantly increased (P< 0.05) in these two treatment groups at different time points. Live yeast and Live yeast plus ZnO treatment has also significantly increased (P< 0.01) concentration of IgA and IgG in the serum of piglets on d7 and d14. In conclusion, supplementation of nursery piglet diets with either live yeast or live yeast plus ZnO improved zootechnical performance of animals by improving gut health through reduction of oxidative stress and enhancement of immune response, suggesting that yeast probiotics could be a suitable alternative to substitute AGP.