Effects of natural dietary supplementation with Macleaya cordata extract containing sanguinarine on growth performance and gut health of early-weaned piglets.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with Sangrovit® (SAG; minimum of 1.5% sanguinarine, a quaternary benzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloid extracted from Macleaya cordata) on growth performance, intestinal morphology, intestinal microflora and its metabolites of early-weaned piglets. A total of 20 healthy weaned piglets (Duroc× [Large White×Landrace]), weaned at 21days of age with an average body weight (BW) of 6.52±0.23kg, were randomly assigned to receive either a corn-soybean meal basal diet (CTR) or a basal diet supplemented with 50mg/kg SAG (SAG). During the 21-days trial, we collected and analysed intestinal tissues and the luminal digesta for their morphology and populations of gut microbiota, as well as for measuring the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and ammonia. Compared with the CTR group, supplementation with SAG improved average daily gains (p=0.011) and average daily feed intake (p=0.037). Piglets fed the SAG diet had an average lower value for crypt depth of the jejunum (p=0.011) and greater values for villus height in the ileum (p=0.015) and ratios of villus height to crypt depth in the jejunum (p<0.01) and in the ileum (p=0.027) than did animals receiving the CTR diet. The addition of SAG increased the amounts of Lactobacillus in the ileum (p=0.033) and caecum (p<0.01), and tended to increase the amounts of Bifidobacterium (p=0.058) in the caecum, while decreasing the amounts of Escherichia coli (p=0.046) and Salmonella spp. (p=0.035) in the ileum, as well as Salmonella spp. (p=0.029) in the caecum. Dietary supplementation with SAG enhanced (p<0.05) the concentrations of acetate, propionate, butyrate and total SCFAs, and also tended to increase the level of valerate (p=0.055 and p=0.052) in the ileal and caecal contents when compared with the CTR group. Concentrations of ammonia also declined in the caecal (p=0.037) and ileal (p=0.046) digesta in response to SAG. These results indicate that feeding early-weaned piglets a SAG-supplemented diet can potentially improve their growth performance and intestinal morphology, and can modify the intestinal luminal environment in a beneficial manner.