Abstract
With world-wide concern over the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture and their contribution to the spread of antibiotic resistance, alternatives to conventional antibiotics are needed. Previous research in our lab has shown that Colicin E1 (ColE1) is effective against certain E. coli strains responsible for post weaining diarrhea (PWD) in vitro. In this study we examined the efficacy of dietary inclusion of ColE1 in preventing experimentally induced F18+ enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC)caused PWD. Twentyfour weaned pigs (23 days of age), identified by genotyping to be susceptible to E. coli F18 infections, were individually housed and fed diets containing either 0, 11, or 16.5 mg ColE1/kg diet. Two days after the start of the trial, all animals were orally inoculated with 1×10 CFU each of 2 F18+ ETEC strains isolated from pigs with PWD. The dietary inclusion of ColE1 decreased the incidence and severity of F18+ ETEC-caused PWD and improved the growth performance of the piglets. Additionally, prevention of PWD by the dietary addition of ColE1 reduced the expression of IL1β and TNFβ mRNA in ileal tissue from these animals. Dietary inclusion of ColE1 may be an effective alternative to
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