Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the effect of nucleotides administration on growth performance and immune response in post-weaning piglets. Twenty-eight male weaned piglets, homogeneous for age and weight were randomly allocated to two experimental treatments. Treated group (T) was daily orally administered 0.8 g/head of a mixture of nucleotides suspended in 2.1 mL water solution; while control group (C) received 2.1 mL saline solution. Body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) were individually recorded weekly, while feed intake (FI), and gain:feed (G:F) were recorded and calculated on pen basis. Faecal score was evaluated every seven days. On day 0, 9, 18 and 27 blood samples were collected to determine IgA, IgG and haptoglobin concentration. At day 28 all piglets were sacrificed, and tissue samples of ileal Peyer’s patches were collected for the evaluation of IL1α, IL1β, IL6, IL10, TNFα, TLR2, TLR4 and PPARγ gene expression. Nucleotides supplementation significantly increased BW (17.37 vs. 19.00 kg/pig; p = <.01), ADG (.351 vs. .400 kg/d; p < .01), and FI (3.96 vs. 4.39 kg/d; p < .01), but not G:F (.61 vs. .64; p = .29). Faecal consistency was not different between the experimental groups and no occurrence of diarrhoea was reported. IgA and IgG content in blood was not influenced by the treatment, as well as gene expression of inflammatory cytokines in Peyer’s patches. The present trial shows that nucleotide administration is able to improve growth performance of post-weaning piglets, with no effects on inflammatory response and the expression of immune-related genes. Highlights Nucleotides administration increased BW, ADG and FI. Nucleotides did not affect inflammatory and immune response.
Highlights
Over the last years, efficiency and quality of commercial swine production have been significantly improved thanks to breeding and nutritional programmes, as well as management practices
A fast recovery of the intestine is essential for proper growth of weaned piglets, and to this end antimicrobials have been widely used in the past to counteract the adverse effects of weaning (Cromwell 2002)
The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nucleotides administration to post-weaning piglets on growth performances and immune response
Summary
Efficiency and quality of commercial swine production have been significantly improved thanks to breeding and nutritional programmes, as well as management practices. The general concern about the risk of antibiotic-resistance development led to the ban of their use as growth promoter by the European Union in 2006 In this light, the interest towards alternative substances has strongly increased, including the investigation of feed additives that stimulate growth and cell. Despite intestinal epithelial cells can provide endogenous nucleotides, either via de novo synthesis or via salvage pathway (Carver and Walker 1995), dietary supply can become ‘conditionally essential’ in stressful moments, such as weaning. At this stage, the requirement of nucleotides strongly increases to promote the growth of intestinal epithelium and lymphoid cells (Sato et al 1999). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of nucleotides administration to post-weaning piglets on growth performances and immune response
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