Abstract
Weaned piglets stayed in transitional stages of internal organ development and external environment change. The dual stresses commonly caused intestinal disorders followed by damaged growth performance and severe diarrhea. High dose of zinc oxide could improve production efficiency and alleviate disease status whereas caused serious environmental pollution. This research investigated if coated ZnO (C_ZnO) in low dose could replace the traditional dose of ZnO to improve the growth performance, intestinal function, and gut microbiota structures in the weaned piglets. A total of 126 cross-bred piglets (7.0 ± 0.5 kg body weight) were randomly allocated into three groups and fed a basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with ZnO (2,000 mg Zn/kg) or C_ZnO (500 mg Zn/kg), respectively. The test lasted for 6 weeks. C_ZnO improved average daily gain (ADG) and feed efficiency, alleviated diarrhea, decreased the lactulose/mannitol ratio (L/M) in the urine, increased the ileal villus height, and upregulated the expression of Occludin in the ileal tissue and the effect was even better than a high concentration of ZnO. Importantly, C_ZnO also regulated the intestinal flora, enriching Streptococcus and Lactobacillus and removing Bacillus and intestinal disease-associated pathogens, including Clostridium_sensu_stricto_1 and Cronobacter in the ileal lumen. Although, colonic microbiota remained relatively stable, the marked rise of Blautia, a potential probiotic related to body health, could still be found. In addition, C_ZnO also led to a significant increase of acetate and propionate in both foregut and hindgut. Collectively, a low concentration of C_ZnO could effectively promote growth performance and reduce diarrhea through improving small intestinal morphology and permeability, enhancing the barrier function, adjusting the structure of gut microbiota, and raising the concentration of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the weaned piglets.
Highlights
These years, early weaning techniques were commonly used in factories with the acceleration of the intensive breeding process, which directly caused severe diarrhea in piglets under multiple stresses, such as shifts in nutrition and environment [1, 2]
Piglets were fed with a basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with ZnO (2,000 mg Zn/kg) and coated ZnO (C_ZnO) (500 mg Zn/kg), respectively
IBW, initial body weight; EBW, end bodyweight; ADG, average daily gain; ADFI, average daily feed intake; F/G, feed to gain ratio; lactulose/mannitol ratio (L/M), lactulose/mannitol; CON, basal diet; ZnO, basal diet supplemented with ZnO (2,000 mg Zn/kg); C_ZnO, basal diet supplemented with C_ZnO (500 mg Zn/kg)
Summary
These years, early weaning techniques were commonly used in factories with the acceleration of the intensive breeding process, which directly caused severe diarrhea in piglets under multiple stresses, such as shifts in nutrition and environment [1, 2]. ZnO had been recognized as a diarrhea inhibitor and growth promoter in a high dose, whereas ZnO was mostly consumed into zinc ion in the acidic environment of the gut and eliminated from the body [3]. Some studies had indicated that ZnO (at least 380 mg Zn/kg) supported on carriers, such as smectite, or coated with enteric materials, such as lipid, reached the same effect of ZnO in high dose [3, 7], while lower content of ZnO (100 or 200 mg Zn/kg) did not make any difference on growth performance and stool consistency [8, 9]. Based on the effective delivery of lipid-coated products [8], our research adopted a lipid-encapsulated method to protect ZnO from the acidic environment in the gut. The function of lipid C_ZnO composite on the diarrhea rate, intestinal barrier proteins, and inflammatory status remained controversial in the weaned piglets [8, 10]
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