Abstract
ABSTRACT This experiment was conducted to determine the effect of dietary supplementation with copper sulfate and cupreous N-carbamylglutamate chelate (NCG-Cu) on the growth performance, serum biochemical profile, immune response, tissue mineral distributions, and fecal excretion of minerals in nursery piglets. Eighteen healthy nursery piglets were randomly assigned to 3 dietary treatments consisting of no copper in either form (control), 650 g/t copper sulfate (650 g/t Cu) or 320 g/t NCG-Cu (320 g/t NCG-Cu) for 35 days. Pigs fed the 320 g/t NCG-Cu diet showed a significantly (P < 0.05) elevated growth rate, feed conversion efficiency, IgA and IgM levels, and decreased diarrhea rate compared to those fed the 650 g/t Cu diet. Fecal copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) were increased (P < 0.05) when pigs were fed the 650 g/t Cu diets compared with those fed the 320 g/t NCG-Cu diets. Tissue Cu has limited effects on tissue mineral distribution, except for the distribution in the spleen and liver (P < 0.05). These results indicated that 320 g/t NCG-Cu (chelated) was as effective as 650 g/t Cu (inorganic Cu) for stimulating growth and the immune response and reducing dietary fecal Cu excretion, thus reducing environmental pollution. Abbreviations: NCG: N-carbamylglutamate chelate; ADG: average daily gain; ADFI: average daily feed intake; F/G: feed to gain ratio; ALB: albumin; GLU: blood glucose; CREA: creatinine; ALP: alkaline phosphatase; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate amino transferase; GLB: globulin; TC: total cholesterol; TP: total protein; urea: Urea; D-BIL: direct-acting-bilirubin; T-BIL: total bilirubin; UA: urate; CK: creatine kinase; LDH: lactate dehydrogenase; IgG: immunoglobulin G; IgA: immunoglobulin A; IgM: immunoglobulin M; C3: complement C3; LD: longissimus dorsi; ICP-OES: inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry; AA: amino acid; GIT: gastrointestinal; Cu-Met: Cu-methionine; CP: crude protein; NDF: neutral detergent fiber; ADF: acid detergent fiber.
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