Dietary supplementation with glycyrrhetinic acid (GA) increases endogenous arginine provision, ornithine decarboxylase activity, development of the jejunum and growth performance in milk‐fed piglets

Abstract

Physiological levels of cortisol stimulate intestinal polyamine synthesis, Interestingly, some herbal extracts contain glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), which has a chemical structure similar to that of cortisol. Twenty piglets with similar BW (2.9 kg) were assigned randomly to one of the 4 treatment groups, which received supplementation with 0, 0.01, 0.02 or 0.04% GA to the milk powder for 12 d. BW was measured on d 0, 5, and 12 for all treatments. On d 12, the blood was collected for an analysis of plasma amino acids and serum hormone concentration, and the jejunum samples were obtained for an analysis of ODC activity and morphology from the control and 0.02% GA treatment groups. Dietary supplementation with 0.02% GA resulted in the highest ADG among all of the treatment groups (P<0.05). Compared with the control, dietary supplementation with 0.02% GA increased feed intake by 14.8% (P>0.05), ADG by 20% (P<0.05), decreased the feed: gain ratio by 3.3% (P>0.05), improved the plasma arginine concentration(P<0.05), and increased the ODC activity in the jejunum on d 21 (P<0.05), but there was no effect on the other plasma amino acids and serum cortisol, GH and insulin concentration (P>0.05). Villus height in pigs treated with 0.02% GA was greater than that in the control pigs (P <0.05) on d 21 These results suggest that 0.02%GA increases endogenous arginine provision and ODC activity, and improves the morphology in the jejunum, and enhances growth performance in milk‐fed piglets.