Effects of fermented rice bran extract with multi-microbial species on intestinal health and growth of nursery pigs.

Simple SummaryThe earlier establishment of a health-benefiting intestinal microbiota can be an important strategy to improve intestinal health and subsequent growth performance. Functional oils, such as castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid, have been studied for promoting intestinal health due to their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. This study aimed to investigate the benefits of supplementation of functional oils on modulation of mucosa-associated microbiota, enhancing the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. It was demonstrated that the functional oils enhanced the intestinal health of the pigs by increasing beneficial and reducing harmful bacteria and by potentially reducing jejunal oxidative stress and enhancing intestinal morphology. Our results suggest that the blend composed of castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid can be used in nursery pigs to modulate the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal integrity of nursery pigs.This study aimed to investigate the effects of functional oils on modulation of mucosa-associated microbiota, intestinal health, and growth performance of nursery pigs. Forty newly weaned pigs (20 barrows and 20 gilts) with 7.0 ± 0.5 kg body weight (BW) were housed individually and randomly allotted in a randomized complete block design with sex and initial BW as blocks. The dietary treatments were a basal diet with increasing levels (0.00, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00, and 1.50 g/kg feed) of functional oils (a blend of castor oil and cashew nutshell liquid; Oligo Basics USA LLC, Cary, NC) fed to pigs for 34 days divided in two phases (P1 for 13 days and P2 for 21 days). Growth performance was analyzed weekly. On day 34, all pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa for analyzing the mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal health, and ileal digesta for analyzing apparent ileal digestibility. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4. Supplementation of functional oils did not affect the overall growth performance. Increasing supplementation of functional oils reduced (p < 0.05) the relative abundance of Helicobacteraceae, whereas it increased (p < 0.05) Lactobacillus kitasatonis. Supplementation of functional oils tended (p = 0.064) to decrease protein carbonyl and increase the villus height (p = 0.098) and crypt depth (p = 0.070). In conclusion, supplementation of functional oils enhanced intestinal health of nursery pigs by increasing beneficial and reducing harmful bacteria, potentially reducing oxidative stress and enhancing intestinal morphology, without affecting overall growth performance of pigs. Supplementation of functional oils at 0.75–1.50 g/kg feed was the most beneficial to the jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota and intestinal integrity of nursery pigs.

The objectives of this review are to investigate how benzoic acid can mitigate the negative effects of weaning stress, improve the intestinal microbiota, intestinal health, and growth of nursery pigs, determine the optimal dose level of benzoic acid for the growth rate in nursery pigs, and compare the efficacy of benzoic acid and other acids in pig feeds. After weaning, pigs are exposed to less lactose and solid feed with high acid-binding capacity at infrequent intervals, causing an increase in digesta pH, reducing protein digestion, and increasing ammonia-producing bacteria in the stomach. Benzoic acid supplementation has improved the intestinal health and growth of nursery pigs through its antimicrobial properties and pH reduction in the digesta. The positive modulation of luminal microbiota in the small intestine of pigs by benzoic acid improves intestinal morphology and enhances nutrient utilization, especially nitrogen, of nursery pigs. Benzoic acid supplementation of up to 1% in feeds also increases hippuric acid contents in the urine of nursery pigs, decreasing urinary pH, which is related to ammonia emission and barn conditions in intensive pig production. Supported by the beneficial impacts of benzoic acid, the growth performance of nursery pigs was also improved. However, excessive benzoic acid (over 2.5% up to 5%) in feeds reduces the growth performance of nursery pigs. Thus, this review conducted a meta-analysis of the results from 16 papers to determine the optimal dose level of benzoic acid for body weight gain of nursery pigs, which was found to be 0.60%. The efficacy of benzoic acid was similar to that of other organic acids, including citric acid, fumaric acid, formic acid, and formate salts. Collectively, benzoic acid supplementation can positively modulate the luminal and mucosal microbiota in the small intestine, increase nutrient utilization and intestinal health, decrease urinary pH, and improve the growth performance of nursery pigs.

The objective was to evaluate the effects of partially replacing soybean meal (SBM) in nursery pig diets with enzyme-treated soybean meal (ESBM), fermented soybean meal (FSBM), or fermented soybean meal containing probiotic microorganism (PFSBM) on jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota, immune responses, intestinal morphology, and growth performance of nursery pigs. Forty-eight weaned pigs (initial body weight = 7.8 ± 0.7 kg) were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design and fed for 25 d in three phases (5, 10, and 12 d, respectively). Dietary treatments were corn-SBM-based diet (SBM diet) and the SBM diet in which 70 g/kg of SBM was replaced with ESBM (ESBM diet), FSBM (FSBM diet), or PFSBM (PFSBM diet). Zinc oxide was supplemented at 2.5 g/kg (2,000 mg/kg of zinc) in the experimental diets for phases 1 and 2. Pigs were housed individually in pens (1.50 m×0.74 m) equipped with a feeder and a nipple drinker. Serum was collected on d 24 and pigs were euthanized on d 27 to collect tissues and mucosa in the jejunum. The PFSBM diet increased (p<0.05) the relative abundance of Lactobacillus, whereas it tended to decrease (p = 0.072) the abundance of Pseudomonas compared with the SBM diet. The ESBM diet increased (p<0.05) gain to feed ratio from d 5 to 15 compared with the SBM diet. However, partially replacing SBM at 70 g/kg with ESBM, FSBM, or PFSBM did not affect immune responses in serum and jejunal mucosa, intestinal morphology in the jejunum, and overall growth performance of nursery pigs. Partially replacing SBM with various processed SBM did not affect immune responses, intestinal morphology, and overall growth performance when diets were supplemented with zinc at pharmacological level in early phases.

The objective of this research was to investigate the functional roles of phytase and xylanase in nursery pigs and broiler chickens. These enzymes have been widely studied and have shown consistent results improving nutrient digestibility and growth performance. However, recent studies have raised the hypothesis that phytase and xylanase could also have potential effects on intestinal and bone health, and intestinal microbiota. The first study studied at the effects of a bacterial 6-phytase on nutrient digestibility and retention of nursery and growing pigs. The results showed that supplementing a bacterial 6-phytase in pig diets can be a potential alternative for reducing high levels of inorganic phosphorus sources while still increasing the digestibility and utilization of phosphorus by the animals. The second study investigated the efficacy and optimal level of a bacterial 6-phytase supplemented beyond traditional dose levels on bone and intestinal health, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance of nursery pigs. The results revealed that the supplementation of the bacterial 6-phytase enhanced bone health, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance in nursery pigs. The third study aimed to determine the effects of phytase supplementation on the intestinal microbiota and morphology, bone health, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance of broiler chickens. The results showed that phytase supplementation had potential benefits on the microbiota by reducing potential harmful bacteria and increasing beneficial bacteria. Additionally, phytase had positive effects on bone health, intestinal morphology, and nutrient digestibility of broiler chickens. The fourth study examined the functional roles of xylanase on the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. The results showed that xylanase supplementation had beneficial effects on intestinal health by reducing the digesta viscosity, the relative abundance of potentially harmful bacteria, and the oxidative stress in the jejunal mucosa. All of these factors collectively reflected in improvements on the intestinal morphology, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance of nursery pigs. In conclusion, the results of these studies reaffirmed the benefits of phytase and xylanase related to nutrient digestibility and growth performance in nursery pigs and broiler chickens, as well as showed potential benefits on intestinal health and microbiota of the animals. Supplementing these enzymes could also contribute to a reduction in feed costs and environmental concerns associated with a poor hydrolysis and breakdown of antinutritional factors in animal diets.

This study investigated the evaluate the role of dietary myristic acid on mucosa-associated microbiota for their relevance to intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. A total of 36 newly weaned pigs [6.6 ± 0.4 kg body weight (BW)] were assigned to 3 treatments (n = 12/treatment) using a randomized complete block design with initial BW and sex as blocks. Pigs were fed for 35 d in 3 phases (10, 10, and 15 d, respectively). Treatments were 1) NC: basal diet; 2) PC: NC + 0.03% bacitracin in all phases; and 3) MA: NC + myristic acid complex at 0.20% in phases 1 and 2 and 0.12% in phase 3. Pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa and jejunal tissues for microbiome sequencing and measuring intestinal health parameters. Data were analyzed using preplanned contrasts (NC vs. PC and NC vs. MA) in the Proc MIXED procedure and correlation coefficients between microbiota and the intestinal health parameters were determined by the CORR procedure of SAS. The PC increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Lactobacillaceae (22.2 to 55.1%) compared with NC. The MA increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Veillonellaceae (1.7 to 5.2%), Lachnospiraceae (0.3 to 3.6%), Coriobacteriaceae (0.6 to 1.5%), and Ruminococcaceae (0.5 to 2.1%) and tended to increase (P = 0.072) Bifidobacteriaceae (6.9 to 18.2%) compared with NC. The PC increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Simpson (0.72 to 0.89) index and the MA increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Chao1 (124.3 to 221.0), Shannon (3.4 to 5.0), and Simpson (0.7 to 0.9) indexes compared with NC. The relative abundance (RA) of Helicobacteraceae was positively correlated with IL-8 (r = 0.63; P &amp;lt; 0.05) and protein carbonyl (r = 0.65; P &amp;lt; 0.05). The RA of Bifidobacteriaceae was negatively correlated with IgG (r = -0.51; P &amp;lt; 0.05), IL-8 (r = -0.58; P &amp;lt; 0.05), TNF-α (r = -0.46; P &amp;lt; 0.05), and protein carbonyl (r = -0.64; P &amp;lt; 0.05) whereas it was positively correlated with average daily gain (ADG; r = 0.51; P &amp;lt; 0.05) and average daily feed intake (ADFI; r = 0.49; P &amp;lt; 0.05). The RA of Lactobacillaceae negatively correlated with IL-8 (r = -0.59; P &amp;lt; 0.05) and protein carbonyl (r = -0.54; P &amp;lt; 0.05) whereas it was positively correlated with ADFI (r = 0.43; P &amp;lt; 0.05) and MDA (r = 0.44; P &amp;lt; 0.05). The RA of Veilonellaceae and Megasphaera sp were negatively correlated (r = -0.49; r = -0.61; P &amp;lt; 0.05) with IgG, respectively. In conclusion, MA mainly increased RA of Bifidobacterium and Megasphaera, whereas PC increased RA of Lactobacillus and Mitsuokella in the jejunal mucosa. The positive modulations of RA of mucosa-associated microbiota by PC and MA were strongly correlated with improved intestinal health and growth of nursery pigs.

Extrusion and animal performance effects of extruded maize quality on digestibility and growth performance in rats and nursery pigs

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of myristic acid on intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. Thirty-six newly weaned pigs (6.6 ± 0.4 kg BW) were assigned to 3 treatments (n = 12) in a randomized complete block design with initial BW and sex as blocks. Pigs were fed for 35 d in 3 phases (10, 10, and 15 d respectively). Treatments were 1) NC: basal diet; 2) PC: NC + 0.25% bacitracin methylene disalicylate (antibiotic; bacitracin: 276 g/t feed) in all phases; and 3) MA: NC + myristic acid at 0.075% in phases 1 and 2 and 0.045% in phase 3. Diets contained nutrients meeting the requirement. Growth performance and fecal score were measured for each phase. Pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa, jejunal tissues, and ileal digesta. Data were analyzed using preplanned contrasts (NC vs. PC and NC vs. MA) in the Proc MIXED procedure of SAS. Compared with the NC, the PC improved (P &amp;lt; 0.05) ADG in phase 1 (43 to 101 g/d) and ADFI in phase 2 (458 to 578 g/d), whereas the MA improved (P &amp;lt; 0.05) ADG (541 to 668 g/d) and ADFI (801 to 996 g/d) in phase 3. Overall, the PC tended to improve ADG (353 to 419 g/d; P = 0.063), and ADFI (515 to 606 g/d; P = 0.051), whereas the MA improved (P &amp;lt; 0.05) ADG (353 to 431 g/d) and ADFI (515 to 623 g/d) compared with the NC group. The PC decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) fecal score (3.17 to 3.03) in phase 2 compared with the NC. The PC tended to decrease IL8 (P = 0.053; 0.53 to 0.37 ng/mg of protein) and protein carbonyl (P = 0.075; 2.65 to 1.66 nmol/mg of protein) in jejunal mucosa compared with the NC. The PC increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) the villus height to crypt depth ratio (2.61 to 3.02) compared with that of NC. The MA tended to decrease IgG (P = 0.051; 2.44 to 1.67 µg/mg of protein) and IL8 (P = 0.090; 0.53 to 0.39 ng/mg of protein) in jejunal mucosa compared with that of the NC. The MA tended to increase relative abundance of Bacteroidetes (P = 0.075; 3.8 to 13.9) at phylum level, Prevotellaceae (P = 0.073; 3.7 to 13.8) at family level, and Prevotella (P = 0.085; 4.2 to 15.4) at genus level compared with the NC. In this study, it was shown that both bacitracin and myristic supplementation could improve the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. Effects of bacitracin on intestinal health and growth performance was rather immediate whereas the effects of myristic acid were obtained after a 3-week feeding.

ObjectiveThis study aimed to investigate the impact of different level of soybean meal (SBM) replaced by soy protein concentrate on intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs under F18+ Escherichia coli (E. coli).MethodsForty-eight newly weaned pigs (6.6±0.3 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments arranged by 2×2 factors using randomized complete block design with initial body weight and sex as blocks. Two factors were F18+ E. coli challenge (0 or 2.1×1010 colony-forming units [CFU]) and the level of SBM (24% or 12% in phase 1 and 26% or 14% in phase 2). Pigs were fed for 25 d in 2 phases (phase 1 for 11 d and phase 2 for 14 d). At the end of study, all pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal mucosa and tissues.ResultsThe F18+ E. coli challenge decreased (p<0.05) overall average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) and decreased (p<0.05) gain to feed ratio on d 7 to 11. The high SBM tended to have a greater overall ADG (p = 0.054) and ADFI (p = 0.078) compared with low SBM under F18+ E. coli challenge, but not in unchallenged conditions. The F18+ E. coli challenge increased (p<0.05) fecal score on d 7 to 18. The tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in jejunal mucosa were decreased (p<0.05) in high SBM treatments. The high SBM tended to increase (p = 0.085) occludin expression in jejunum. high SBM increased crypt depth in jejunum under F18+ E. coli challenge, but not in unchallenged conditions (p<0.05).ConclusionHigh SBM in nursery diets could alleviate the detrimental effects of F18+ E. coli challenge on growth performance of pigs under compared to low SBM inclusion, which might be attributed to decreased intestinal inflammation and improved intestinal integrity.

A trubs, hops, and yeast mixture (THYM) generated as a co-product of craft brewing contains high levels of hop acids and yeast cells, bioactive compounds that could positively influence health and growth in pigs. These co-products have a high moisture content and must be dried to facilitate transport and mixing into diets. Drying methods utilizing heat can cause the loss of functional volatile compounds, like hop acids, but the cost of drying solutions using lower heat, such as freeze-drying, can be up to 10-fold the cost of drum-drying. Similarly, it was found that the storage of 3-year-old drum-dried THYM decreased the amount of alpha and beta acids compared with the fresh drum-dried and freeze-dried THYM by approximately 19% and 65%, respectively. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of THYM (Highland Brewing, Asheville, NC, USA) dried using different methods and storage times on intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. Thirty-two pigs (6.8 ± 0.4 kg body weight) weaned at 3 weeks-of-age were allotted into 4 dietary treatments, using a randomized complete block design, with sex and initial body weight as blocks. The dietary treatments were: 1) basal diet (CON); 2) fresh drum-dried THYM, at 0.7% of the diet (0.7DF); 3) fresh freeze-dried THYM, at 0.7% of the diet (0.7FF); and 4) 3-year-old drum-dried THYM, at 1.4% of the diet (1.4DS), to consider the loss of hop acids during storage. The THYM replaced a mixture of 40% corn and 60% soybean meal in the basal diets. Pigs were fed for 28 d in 3 phases (9, 11, and 8 d, respectively). On d 28, all pigs were euthanized for sampling of jejunal tissue and jejunal mucosa. Data were analyzed using SAS 9.4. The inclusion of THYM decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Helicobacter in the jejunal mucosa, when compared with the CON, whereas there were no changes to intestinal morphology and weight gain with the inclusion of THYM. The 1.4DS tended to decrease the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (P = 0.073) and Cluster of differentiation 14 (P = 0.057), when compared with 0.7DF. This suggests THYM may positively influence the mucosa-associated microbiota, whereas increased storage time could decrease the stimulation of pathogen recognition pathways by THYM, possibly due to storage conditions decreasing the functionality of the bioactive compounds over time. In conclusion, the inclusion of THYM could reduce potentially harmful bacterial populations in the jejunal mucosa, with no negative effects on intestinal morphology or growth performance, however, prolonged storage could decrease immunomodulatory properties of THYM related to pathogen sensing, when fed to nursery pigs.

The study aimed to evaluate the effects of increasing levels of a microencapsulated blend of botanicals (MBB) on the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs challenged with F18+E. coli. Sixty-four nursery pigs (6.8 ± 0.3kg) were assigned to 4 dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design, with initial body weight and sex as blocks, and fed for 28 d in 3 phases. Treatments were a basal diet fed to pigs without F18+E. coli challenge (NC) and 3 levels of MBB (0.0%, 0.1%, and 0.2%) in pigs challenged with F18+E. coli. On day 7 of the study, pigs in the challenged group were orally inoculated with F18+E. coli (1.5 × 1010 CFU). On days 7 and 21 post-challenge, pigs were euthanized to collect jejunal tissues and mucosa. Compared to the NC, 0.0% MBB increased (P < 0.05) relative abundance (RA) of Staphylococcus saprophyticus and reduced (P < 0.05) Streptococcus parasuis at days 7 and 21 post-challenge, respectively. Increasing levels of MBB decreased (linear: P < 0.05) RA of S. saprophyticus on day 7 post-challenge. Compared to the NC, 0.0% MBB increased (P < 0.05) jejunal NOD2 and IL-6 expression and decreased (P < 0.05) ZO-1 on day 7 post-challenge. Compared to the NC, 0.0% MBB decreased (P < 0.05) jejunal IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α and increased (P < 0.05) IgG on day 21 post-challenge. Increasing levels of MBB increased OCLN (linear: P < 0.05) and ZO-1 (linear and quadratic: P < 0.05) on day 7 post-challenge and decreased toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4; linear and quadratic: P < 0.05). Compared to the NC, 0.0% MBB decreased (P < 0.05) Ki-67+ on day 7 post-challenge. Increasing levels of MBB increased (linear: P < 0.05) Ki-67+ on day 7 post-challenge and villus height (VH):CD on d 21 post-challenge. In the overall period, compared to the NC, 0.0% MBB decreased (P < 0.05) average daily gain. Increasing daily MBB intake linearly increased OCLN on day 7 and VH:CD on day 21, and reduced TLR4 and IL-8 on day 21 post-challenge, but exhibiting quadratic effects (P < 0.05) on ZO-1 (optimal at 0.12% of MBB), IgG (optimal at 0.14% of MBB), and G:F during days 7 to 20 and days 7 to 28 (optimal at 0.22% and 0.10% of MBB, respectively). In conclusion, F18+E. coli challenge negatively modulated the jejunal mucosal microbiota and reduced intestinal morphology and growth of nursery pigs. Supplementation of MBB at 0.10% to 0.14% provided optimal mitigation of the impacts of F18+E. coli challenge on humoral immunity, intestinal integrity, jejunal morphology, and feed efficiency of pigs.

This study was conducted to investigate the functional roles of an endo-β-1,4-xylanase on the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs. A total of 60 pigs (21 d old, 6.9 ± 0.8 kg body weight [BW]) were allotted based on a randomized complete block design with sex and initial BW as blocks. Dietary treatments had nutrients meeting the requirements with increasing levels of endo-β-1,4-xylanase (0, 220, 440, 880, 1,760 xylanase unit [XU] per kg feed) and fed to pigs in three phases (phases 1, 2, and 3 for 10, 14, and 14 d, respectively). Titanium dioxide (0.4%) was added to the phase 3 diets as an indigestible marker. On day 38, all pigs were euthanized to collect ileal digesta to measure apparent ileal digestibility (AID), jejunal digesta to measure viscosity, and jejunal mucosa to evaluate intestinal health. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure for polynomial contrasts and the NLMIXED procedure for broken line analysis of SAS. Increasing xylanase in the nursery diets reduced (linear, P < 0.05) the digesta viscosity in the jejunum. Increasing xylanase tended to reduce the relative abundance of Cupriavidus (P = 0.073) and Megasphaera (P = 0.063); tended to increase the relative abundance of Succinivibrio (P = 0.076) and Pseudomonas (P = 0.060); and had a quadratic effect (P < 0.05) on the relative abundance of Acinetobacter (maximum: 2.01% at 867 XU per kg feed). Xylanase from 0 to 1,087 XU per kg feed reduced (P < 0.05) jejunal malondialdehyde. Xylanase from 0 to 1,475 XU per kg feed increased (P < 0.05) the AID of neutral detergent fiber. Increasing xylanase increased (P < 0.05) the AID of ether extract and tended to increase (P = 0.058) the AID of crude protein. Increasing xylanase did not affect growth performance on overall period, whereas xylanase from 0 to 736 XU per kg feed increased (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) during days 31 to 38. In conclusion, xylanase supplementation showed benefits on intestinal health by reducing digesta viscosity, the relative abundance of potentially harmful bacteria, and the oxidative stress in the jejunal mucosa, collectively enhancing intestinal morphology and the AID of nutrients. Xylanase supplementation at a range of 750 to 1,500 XU per kg feed provided benefits associated with reduced oxidative stress, increased nutrient digestibility, resulting in potential improvement on growth performance of nursery pigs by increasing the average daily feed intake and moderately improving the ADG throughout the last week of feeding.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intestinal health and growth performance of nursery pigs affected by dietary supplementation of increasing levels of xylanase and b-glucanase combinations. Pigs [n = 40; initial body weight (BW) = 6.5 ± 0.4 kg] were assigned to 5 dietary treatments and fed for 35 d in 3 phases (11, 9, and 15 d, respectively). Basal diets mainly included corn, soybean meal, and distiller’s dried grains with solubles with phytase (750 FTU/kg) supplemented with 5 levels of xylanase and b-glucanase combinations (NSPase) at 1) 0, 2) 280 TXU/kg xylanase and 125 TGU/kg b-glucanase, 3) 560 and 250, 4) 840 and 375, or 5) 1,120 and 500, respectively. Growth performance and fecal score were measured for each phase. On d 35, all pigs were euthanized and collected jejunal mucosa, jejunal digesta, jejunal tissues, and ileal digesta to determine the effects of increasing NSPase levels (%) and NSPase intake on jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota, jejunal digesta viscosity, immune responses, intestinal morphology, feed digestibility, and growth performance. Increasing NSPase level quadratically decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Bacteroidetes (min: 0.7% at 636 TXU/kg and 284 TGU/kg), Prevotellaceae (min: 0.6% at 630 TXU/kg and 281 TGU/kg) in the jejunal mucosa. Increasing NSPase intake quadratically increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Firmicutes (max: 72.7% at 604 TXU/kg and 270 TGU/kg), Lactobacillaceae (max: 40.3% at 608 TXU/kg and 271 TGU/kg), and Lactobacillus (max: 40.3% at 608 TXU/kg and 271 TGU/kg) in the jejunal mucosa. Increasing NSPase intake also quadratically decreased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) Proteobacteria (min: 3.8% at 562 TXU/kg and 251 TGU/kg), Helicobacteraceae (min: 1.6% at 560 TXU/kg and 250 TGU/kg), and Helicobacter (min: 1.6% at 560 TXU/kg and 250 TGU/kg) in the jejunal mucosa. Increasing NSPase intake tended to quadratically decrease (P = 0.059) viscosity of jejunal digesta reaching the minimum (1.74 mPa·s) at 751 TXU/kg and 335 TGU/kg. Increasing NSPase level tended to linearly decrease (P = 0.073) jejunal IgG and tended to quadratically increase (P = 0.085) jejunal villus height to crypt depth ratio reaching the maximum (2.62) at 560 TXU/kg and 250 TGU/kg. Increasing NSPase intake tended to linearly increase the apparent ileal digestibility of dry matter (P = 0.087) and ether extract (P = 0.065). Increasing NSPase intake linearly increased (P &amp;lt; 0.05) average daily gain (ADG). In conclusion, increasing the combinational use of xylanase and β-glucanase positively modulated jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota, reduced jejunal digesta viscosity, reduced intestinal humoral immune response, enhanced villus morphology, increased ileal digestibility of nutrients, and increased growth of nursery pigs. The beneficial effects were maximized when xylanase and β-glucanase were supplemented at a range of 550 to 800 TXU/kg and 246 to 357 TGU/kg, respectively.

This study aimed to determine the efficacy of a bacterial 6-phytase (Buttiauxella spp.) supplemented beyond traditional dose levels based on jejunal mucosa-associated microbiota, apparent ileal digestibility (AID), intestinal health and bone parameters, and growth performance of nursery pigs. Seventy-two weaned pigs (36 barrows and 36 gilts at 21 d of age with 5.8 ± 0.5 kg BW) were allotted to six treatments based on randomized complete block design with sex and initial BW as blocks and fed in three dietary phases (phase 1 for 14 d, phase 2 for 10 d, and phase 3 for 14 d). The treatments included a negative control (NC) diet without phytase formulated meeting nutrient requirements by NRC and the other five treatments were deficient in calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P) by 0.12% with increasing levels of a bacterial 6-phytase (0, 500, 1,000, 2,000, and 5,000 FTU/kg feed). Titanium dioxide (0.4%) was added to phase 3 diets as an indigestible marker to measure AID of nutrients. On day 45, all pigs were euthanized to collect ileal digesta to measure AID, the third metacarpus to measure bone parameters, and jejunal mucosa to evaluate intestinal health and microbiota. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure for polynomial contrasts and the NLMIXED procedure for broken line analysis using the SAS 9.4. Broken line analysis demonstrated that 948 FTU/kg feed increased (P < 0.05) the ADG and the bone P content. Increasing phytase supplementation increased (linear, P < 0.05) AID of CP, bone P, and ash content. Increasing phytase supplementation reduced (P < 0.05) the fecal score during phases 2 and 3. Broken line analysis demonstrated that 1,889 FTU/kg feed increased (P < 0.05) bone breaking strength. Increasing phytase supplementation (PC vs. Phy) increased (P < 0.05) AID of ether extract (EE) and P. The supplementation of phytase at 2,000 FTU/kg feed tended (P = 0.087) to reduce the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae. In conclusion, the supplementation of a bacterial 6-phytase beyond traditional dose levels improved bone breaking strength, bone ash, and P content, AID of CP, EE, and P, and growth performance of nursery pigs with reduced relative abundance of Bacteroidetes specifically Prevotellaceae in the jejunal mucosa. Supplementation of a bacterial 6-phytase between 1,000 and 2,000 FTU/kg feed provided benefits associated with growth performance and bone parameters of nursery pigs.

This work aimed to determine the effects of dietary full-fat or defatted black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) to replace protein sources on growth performance, blood parameters, intestinal morphology, and intestinal microbiota in nursery pigs and to investigate the effects of dietary defatted BSFL at up to 30% at the expense of protein sources on growth performance in nursery pigs. In Exp. 1, a total of 36 barrows with an initial body weight of 7.0kg (SD = 0.8) were allotted to three dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with four replicate pens per treatment and three barrows per pen. A corn-soybean meal (SBM)-whey-based control diet was prepared with soy protein concentrate and fish meal as additional protein supplements. Two additional diets were prepared to include 20% full-fat BSFL or 20% defatted BSFL to replace soy protein concentrate and fish meal to maintain the same energy and nutrient concentrations in all diets. In the 28-d feeding trial, pigs fed the diet containing defatted BSFL tended to consume more feeds (P < 0.10) than other groups during days 14 to 28 and the overall period. On day 28, the serum blood urea nitrogen in pigs fed the control diet was less (P < 0.05) than that fed the full-fat or defatted BSFL, but fecal score and jejunal morphology did not differ among the treatment groups. Relative abundance of Mycoplasma in the ileal digesta was less (P < 0.05) in the pigs fed the diet containing full-fat or defatted BSFL compared with the control group. In Exp. 2, a total of 192 pigs with an initial body weight of 7.8 (SD = 1.2kg) were randomly allotted to one of four dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design with six replicate pens per treatment and four barrows and four gilts per pen. A control diet was mainly based on corn, SBM, fermented SBM, fish meal, and spray-dried plasma protein (SDPP). Three additional diets were prepared to contain 10%, 20%, and 30% defatted BSFL to replace SBM, fermented SBM, fish meal, and SDPP to maintain for the same energy and nutrient concentrations. Average daily gain, average daily feed intake, gain:feed, and fecal score were not affected by increasing dietary defatted BSFL. Overall, dietary BSFL did not compromise growth performance or intestinal health in nursery pigs. BSFL can be used in nursery pig diets to replace other protein sources without negative effects.

This study was to evaluate the effects of mixed macroalgae on enhancing growth performance and intestinal health of nursery pigs. Nursery pigs (n = 24; 12 barrows and 12 gilts with 6.5 ± 0.2 kg BW) were allotted using a randomized complete block design based on the randomized block design with sex and initial BW as blocks. A basal diet was supplemented with mixed macroalgae (Ulva spp. and Solieria chordalis) at 0.0 and 0.2%. All pigs were fed experimental diets for 3 phases (Phase 1: 7 d, phase 2: 14 d, and phase 3: 14 d). Feed intake and BW were recorded at the end of each phase. All pigs were euthanized on d 35 to collect intestinal samples. Jejunal tissues were collected to evaluate intestinal morphology and crypt cell proliferation. Jejunal mucosa was collected to measure immune response and oxidative stress markers. Data were analyzed using Mixed procedure of SAS. Pigs fed a diet with mixed macroalgae did not affect growth performance, intestinal morphology, and crypt cell proliferation compared with pigs fed with the control diet. Pigs fed a diet with mixed macroalgae had less (P &amp;lt; 0.05) tumor necrosis factor-alpha and protein carbonyl than pigs fed with the control diet. Pigs fed a diet with mixed macroalgae tended to have lless (P = 0.064) interleukin 8 than pigs fed with the control diet. In conclusion, mixed macroalgae could be supplemented in nursery diets to enhance intestinal health by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress markers, whereas growth performance was not affected by mixed macroalgae supplementation.