Weaning Piglets Research Articles

O69 Effects of dietary rye and rapeseed meal on digestibility and transport physiology of crude protein and lysine in the small intestine of weaner piglets

O69 Effects of dietary rye and rapeseed meal on digestibility and transport physiology of crude protein and lysine in the small intestine of weaner piglets

Evaluation of a Dietary Grape Extract on Oxidative Status, Intestinal Morphology, Plasma Acute-Phase Proteins and Inflammation Parameters of Weaning Piglets at Various Points of Time.

Reports of the underlying mechanisms of dietary grape extract (GE) in overcoming weaning challenges in piglets have been partly inconsistent. Furthermore, evaluations of the effects of GE at weaning in comparison to those of widely used therapeutic antibiotics have been scarce. To explore the mode of action of GE in selected tissues and plasma, we evaluated gut morphology, antioxidant and inflammation indices. Accordingly, 180 weaning piglets were allocated to three treatment groups: negative control (NC), NC and antibiotic treatment for the first 5 days of the trial (positive control, PC), and NC and GE (entire trial). The villus surface was positively affected by GE and PC on day 27/28 of the trial in the jejunum and on day 55/56 of the trial in the ileum. In the colon, NC tended (p < 0.10) to increase crypt parameters compared to PC on day 55/56. The PC group tended (p < 0.10) to increase catalase activity in the ileum and decrease Cu/Zn-SOD activity in the jejunum, both compared to NC. There were no additional effects on antioxidant measurements of tissue and plasma, tissue gene expression, or plasma acute-phase proteins. In conclusion, GE supplementation beneficially affected the villus surface of the small intestine. However, these changes were not linked to the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of GE.

Distinct Patterns of GR Transcriptional Regulation in Liver and Muscle of LPS-Challenged Weaning Piglets.

Glucocorticoid receptor (GR), which is ubiquitously expressed in nearly all cell types of various organs, mediates the tissue-specific metabolic and immune responses to maintain homeostasis and ensure survival under stressful conditions or pathological challenges. The neonatal period is metabolically demanding, and piglets are subjected to multiple stressors in modern intensive farms, especially around weaning. The liver is more responsive to LPS challenge compared to muscle, which is indicated by significantly increased TLR4 and p-p65, TNF-α, and IL-6 levels in association with GR down-regulation at both mRNA and protein levels. GR binding to the putative nGRE on TNF-α and IL-6 gene promoters decreased in the liver, but not muscle, upon LPS stimulation. The transcriptional regulation of GR also showed striking differences between liver and muscle. GR exon 1 mRNA variants 1–4, 1–5, and 1–6 were down-regulated in both liver and muscle, but a significant up-regulation of GR exon 1–9/10 mRNA variants abolished the change of total GR mRNA in the muscle in response to LPS stimulation. The significant down-regulation of GR in the liver corresponded with significantly decreased binding of p-GR and diminished histone acetylation in GR gene promoters. These results indicate that tissue-specific GR transcriptional regulation is involved in the differential inflammation responses between liver and muscle.

Dietary L-theanine supplementation improves lipid metabolism and antioxidant capacity in weaning piglets

The aim of this study was to explore the effects of dietary L-theanine (LT) supplementation on lipid metabolism and antioxidant capacity in weaned piglets. Twenty-one castrated DLY weaning piglets were randomly divided into three groups: a basal diet, a basal diet supplemented with 0.05% and 0.1% LT, respectively. Our data showed that dietary LT supplementation decreased T-CHO, TG, LDL-C and apoB levels and increased apoA and HDL-C levels in serum, but decreased the hepatic TG and T-CHO contents. Dietary LT supplementation increased the antioxidant capacity in serum and liver, and significantly increased the Nrf2 mRNA level and the nucleus Nrf2 protein level, but decreased the mRNA level of keap1 in the liver. In addition, dietary LT supplementation significantly increased HSL enzyme activity and the levels of CPT1 and TBA, while decreasing the enzyme activities of LPL and FAS in the liver. Furthermore, the mRNA levels HMG-CoAR, CPT-1a and PPARα and the protein levels of phosphorylated-AMPK and PGC-1α were increased by LT. Together, our data provide the first evidence that dietary supplementation of LT could improve lipid metabolism and antioxidant capacity in the liver of weaned piglets, and the effect might be mediated by activation of AMPK and Nrf2 signaling, respectively.

Blend of essential oils can reduce diarrheal disorders and improve liver antioxidant status in weaning piglets.

This study was to assess the effects of different doses of an essential oil blend (EOB) on growth performance, diarrhea occurrence (DO), hematological and blood biochemical profile, intestinal morphometry, morphology and microbiology, relative weight and length of organs, digestive content pH, and liver antioxidant status in weaning piglets. A total of 135 barrows (7.09±0.29 kg body weight) were allotted randomly in a randomized complete block design based on body weight with nine replications and three animals per pen. Dietary treatments were a negative control (NC): basal diet; positive control (PC): NC plus 125 mg performance-enhancing antibiotic (enramycin 8%)/kg diet; NC plus 100 mg EOB/kg diet (EO100); NC plus 200 mg EOB/kg diet (EO200); and NC plus 400 mg EOB/kg diet (EO400). Diarrhea occurrence was monitored daily, and performance at the end of each phase. Gain to feed ratio was greater (p<0.05) in starter II pigs fed EO400 and EO200 than in those fed EO100. Pigs fed EO400 had lower (p<0.05) DO than those fed NC and EO100 in the total period. Pre-starter II pigs fed NC had (p<0.05) lower serum total protein and plasma protein than pigs fed PC. Pigs fed EO100 showed smaller (p<0.05) mean corpuscular volume (MCV) than pigs fed EO400. Starter II pigs fed EO400 had (p<0.05) greater MCV and lower mean corpuscular hemoglobin and erythrocytes than those fed EO100. There was a greater concentration (p<0.05) of band cells for PC, similar to EO400 and EO200. Performance-enhancing antibiotic and EOB to diets increased (p<0.05) liver superoxide dismutase activity. Adding 200 and 400 mg EOB/kg diet decreased DO and was advantageous to hematological and blood biochemical profile and liver antioxidant status without being detrimental to growth performance and gastrointestinal health in nursery pigs.

Importance of Zinc Nanoparticles for the Intestinal Microbiome of Weaned Piglets.

The scientific community is closely monitoring the replacement of antibiotics with doses of ZnO in weaned piglets. Since 2022, the use of zinc in medical doses has been banned in the European Union. Therefore, pig farmers are looking for other solutions. Some studies have suggested that zinc nanoparticles might replace ZnO for the prevention of diarrhea in weaning piglets. Like ZnO, zinc nanoparticles are effective against pathogenic microorganisms, e.g., Enterobacteriaceae family in vitro and in vivo. However, the effect on probiotic Lactobacillaceae appears to differ for ZnO and zinc nanoparticles. While ZnO increases their numbers, zinc nanoparticles act in the opposite way. These phenomena have been also confirmed by in vitro studies that reported a strong antimicrobial effect of zinc nanoparticles against Lactobacillales order. Contradictory evidence makes this topic still controversial, however. In addition, zinc nanoparticles vary in their morphology and properties based on the method of their synthesis. This makes it difficult to understand the effect of zinc nanoparticles on the intestinal microbiome. This review is aimed at clarifying many circumstances that may affect the action of nanoparticles on the weaning piglets' microbiome, including a comprehensive overview of the zinc nanoparticles in vitro effects on bacterial species occurring in the digestive tract of weaned piglets.

Perinatal Supplementation of Egg Yolk Enhances Cognition and Alters Brain Network Function in Offspring

ObjectivesEgg yolks are a nutrient dense food often recommended to pregnant women, as they contain bioactive compounds that enhance brain development in offspring. We examined the effects of perinatal intake of egg yolks on cognition and brain functional network activity in offspring using a translational sow/piglet dyad model. MethodsSows were fed a control diet (n = 6) or a diet containing egg yolks (n = 5,350 mg egg yolk powder/kg BW/day, equivalent to ∼3 eggs/day for humans) from late gestation throughout lactation. At weaning, piglet offspring (n = 4/sow, total n = 44) performed object recognition testing (ORT) to assess hippocampal-dependent learning and memory outcomes. A subset of the piglets (n = 2/sow, total n = 22) underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to acquire diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and resting-state functional MRI. Correlation analysis of outcomes from ORT and MRI was performed. ResultsPiglets from egg yolk fed sows spent more time with novel objects than familiar objects (p = 0.039), suggesting that maternal intake of egg yolk may improve hippocampal-dependent cognitive outcomes. DTI analysis showed that perinatal intake of egg yolks tended to increase fiber length in the hippocampus (p = 0.073) compared to control. Moreover, intake of egg yolk resulted in a 14.3% increase in functional connectivity in the cerebellar network (p = 0.025) and a 15.6% trending increase in the executive network (p = 0.089) compared to control. Interestingly, the visual network was positively correlated with proportional frequency (p = 0.043) and time (p = 0.078) spent with novel objects and negatively correlated with proportional frequency (p = 0.007) and time (p = 0.016) spent with familiar objects, suggesting that the activation of visual network may influence hippocampal-dependent cognitive outcomes at weaning. ConclusionsPerinatal intake of egg yolk enhanced hippocampal-dependent learning and memory, increased fiber length in the hippocampus and altered brain functional connectivity in offspring at weaning. The findings from this study support that egg yolk altered activation of specific brain networks are that associated with cognitive outcomes in weaning piglets. Funding SourcesThis work was supported by grants to H.J.P from the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the Egg Nutrition Center.

Effect of dietary L-theanine supplementation on skeletal muscle fiber type transformation in weaning piglets

The aim of this study was to explore the effect of dietary L-theanine (LT) supplementation on skeletal muscle fiber type transformation in weaning piglets. Our data showed that LT significantly increased the slow-twitch fiber-related genes expression and the percentage of slow oxidative fiber, and decreased the MyHC IIb mRNA expression and the percentage of fast glycolytic fiber. In addition, LT significantly increased the succinic dehydrogenase (SDH) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) activities and increased the LDH activities. In addition, LT significantly affected mitochondrial biogenesis and function and antioxidative related genes expression, and increased the protein expression of p-adenosine monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α), nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NADPH quinone oxidoreductase-1 (NQO1) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) and decreased the Keap1 protein levels. Furthermore, our data indicated that LT significantly increased the mRNA and protein expression of prospero-related homeobox 1 (Prox1), calcineurin A (CnA), and NFATc1, suggesting that dietary LT supplementation promoted skeletal muscle fiber transition from types II to I might be via activation of calcineurin signaling pathway. Taken together, these findings suggested that LT promoted the transformation of muscle fiber types from slow oxidative to fast glycolytic by increasing antioxidant capacity and improving mitochondrial biogenesis and function and activation of calcineurin signaling pathway.

P200. Application of different butyric acid derivatives in weaning piglets

P200. Application of different butyric acid derivatives in weaning piglets

P176. Evaluation of dietary supplementation with formic acid and zinc oxide in weaning piglets

P176. Evaluation of dietary supplementation with formic acid and zinc oxide in weaning piglets

P21. Assessment of a novel biosynthetic bacterial 6-phytase in weaning piglets on growth efficiency, bone mineralization and phosphorus digestibility

P21. Assessment of a novel biosynthetic bacterial 6-phytase in weaning piglets on growth efficiency, bone mineralization and phosphorus digestibility

Dietary Palygorskite Clay-Adsorbed Nano-ZnO Supplementation Improves the Intestinal Barrier Function of Weanling Pigs.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of PNZ on intestinal mucosal barrier function in weaning piglets. A total of 210, 21-day-old piglets with similar body weights (6.30 ± 0.51 kg) were randomly allocated into seven groups: control group (CON), antibiotic group (ANT), ZnO group (ZO), nano-ZnO group (NZO) and low, middle, and high PNZ groups (LPNZ, MPNZ, and HPNZ). The seven groups were, respectively, fed control diets or control diets supplemented with antibiotics; 3,000 mg/kg ZnO; 800 mg/kg nano-ZnO; 700, 1,000, or 1,300 mg/kg PNZ. More integrated intestinal villi were observed in the LPNZ group. In the jejunum of LPNZ group, the crypt depth significantly decreased (P < 0.05), and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth (V/C) significantly increased (P < 0.05). In addition, the villus width and surface area of the ileum were significantly increased in the LPNZ group (P < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with PNZ can significantly increase the number of goblet cells in the mucosa of the jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05), decrease the contents of TNF-α and IL-1β (P < 0.05), and increase the contents of sIgA and IL-4 in the jejunal and ileal mucosa (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the mRNA expression of MCU2 and ZO1 in PNZ group were significantly increased (P < 0.05), the mRNA expression of TLR4 and MyD88 was downregulated (P < 0.05). With increasing levels of PNZ, decreased proinflammatory cytokines and increased intestinal mucosal barrier function in weaned pigs was observed. In conclusion, supplementation with PNZ could effectively improve the intestinal barrier function of weanling piglets and potentially could replace the use of high doses of ZnO and antibiotics. The appropriate dose of PNZ for supplementation was 700 mg/kg.

Innovative methods of evaluation of sows by indicators of reproductive qualities and criteria for their selection by some multicomponent mathematical models

The article presents the results of research on the reproductive qualities of sows of large white breeds of different interbreeding differentiation according to some evaluation indices, determines the criteria for selection of highly productive animals, and the economic efficiency of their use. Based on experimental data, Annex 10 to the Guidelines for Pig Breeding has been modified (Correction factors for piglet nest weight at weaning at 60 days of age), and a new method for estimating sows by “sowing nest uniformity” at weaning piglet weight was developed (IVG60). The research was conducted in the research farm and laboratory of animal husbandry and feed production of the Institute of Agriculture of the North-East NAAS Ukraine and the laboratory of animal husbandry of the State Institution “Institute of Cereals NAAS of Ukraine” (2019–2021). The work was performed following the IPA NAAS № 30 “Innovative technologies of breeding, industrial and organic production of pig products” (“Pig breeding”). Evaluation of sows of large white breed on the indicators of reproductive qualities was carried out taking into account the following characteristics: fertility, ch.; high fertility, kg; milk yield, kg, nest weight at the time of weaning at the age of 32 days (actual), kg; nest weight at weaning time of 60 days (estimated), kg; safety of piglets before weaning, %. The index of uniformity (homogeneity) of the sow's nest by live weight of piglets at the time of birth (Ik2) was calculated according to the method of Kovalenko (2011) at the time of weaning – Halak (2020). A comprehensive evaluation of sows based on reproductive qualities was performed according to the sows' reproductive qualities selection index, M. D. Berezovsky's index and biometric processing of research results – according to the methods of Kovalenko and others (2010). It was found that 26.47 % of sows in the controlled population-based on reproductive qualities (multiplicity, head, nest weight at the time of weaning, kg) belong to the elite class, 65.44 – I, 7.35 – II class. According to the average score belonging to the category of “extracurricular”, the number of animals is 0.74 %. The sows of class M + according to the selection index of reproductive qualities of the sow and the index of M. D. Berezovsky is characterized by the leading indicators of diversity, milk yield, nest weight at the time of weaning at the age of 32 days (actual), and nest weight at the time of weaning at the age of 60 days (estimated). Compared with class M0 and M - peers, the difference according to these indicators is 4.6–4.2 kg, 23.3–23.6 kg, 24.6–25.0 kg, 60.1–58.1 kg, respectively, and is statistically significant. Sows characterize more balanced nests with a minimum number of piglets at the time of birth and weaning (distribution class according to the selection index of reproductive qualities of sows and the index of M. D. Berezovsky M -). The number of reliable correlations between the index “alignment (homogeneity) of the sow's nest by live weight of piglets at birth” (Ik2), the index of alignment (homogeneity) of the sow's nest by live weight of piglets at the time of weaning at 60 days of age (IVG60), the selection index of reproductive qualities of sows, the index of M. D. Berezovsky (I) and the signs of reproductive qualities of sows is 85.00 %. This indicates the effectiveness of using these multicomponent mathematical models in pig breeding. The use of sows of class M+ according to the selection index of reproductive qualities of sows and the index of M. D. Berezovsky provides an increase in additional production at 16.49–16.68 %, and its value is +438.90 and 443.96 UAH/head./farrowing, respectively.

Effects of Protein Restriction and Succedent Realimentation on Jejunal Function and Bacterial Composition of Different Colonic Niches in Weaned Piglets.

Recent studies have proved that protein succedent realimentation could rescue the loss of growth performance in weaning piglets caused by a prior protein restriction. However, how the protein restriction and succedent realimentation influence the jejunal function and bacterial composition of different colonic niches microbiota in weaning piglets needs a further investigation. After protein succedent realimentation, we found that the treatment group (TRE) piglets had a higher IGF-1 content and IGF-1R gene expression level in jejunal mucosa than the control group (CON) piglets. The ZO-1 gene expression level was up-regulated in the jejunal mucosa of TRE piglets during protein restriction and succedent realimentation, while the jejunal permeability of TRE piglets was only decreased after protein succedent realimentation. In addition, we found that protein restriction and succedent realimentation increased the gene expression of Pept-1 and the fecal apparent digestibility of crude protein in TRE piglets, but decreased the fecal nitrogen content. After 16S rRNA MiSeq sequencing of bacteria in different colonic niches (mucosa and digesta), TRE piglets had a higher relative abundance of beneficial bacteria and a lower relative abundance of potential pathogens than CON piglets in different colonic niches after protein restriction and succedent realimentation. Our data showed that protein restriction and succedent realimentation decreased the concentrations of branch chain fatty acids and ammonia-N in the colon of TRE piglets. In addition, protein succedent realimentation increased the concentration of total short chain fatty acids in the colon of TRE piglets. All these findings demonstrated that the strategy of protein restriction and succedent realimentation is an effective way to improve intestinal health of weaning piglets, and provided new insights into the nutrition management of piglets during the weaning period.

Effects of Different Sources of Calcium in the Diet on Growth Performance, Blood Metabolic Parameters, and Intestinal Bacterial Community and Function of Weaned Piglets.

Despite a well-documented effect of calcium on the piglet's intestinal microbiota composition, it is less known about changes in microbial function or the effect of different sources of calcium. The experiment was designed to study the effects of dietary calcium from different sources on production, immune indexes, antioxidant capacity, serum biochemical indexes, and intestinal microflora of weaning piglets. A total of 1,000 piglets were randomly assigned to five groups (10 replicate pens per treatment with 20 pigs per pen) and fed diets supplemented with calcium carbonate, calcium citrate, multiple calcium, organic trace minerals, and different concentrations of acidifier. The results showed that the replacement of calcium carbonate with calcium citrate and multiple calcium had almost no significant difference in the growth performance of pigs compared with the control group, and only the diet of multiple calcium dramatically decreased the average daily feed intake (ADFI) compared to the calcium citrate diet on days 15–28 (p < 0.05). The five groups did not change the content of MDA, SOD, and GSH-Px (p > 0.10). A similar situation occurs in the immune function of the blood. There was no significant effect in immune indexes (IgA, IgG, and IgM) among different treatments after weaning at 6 weeks for piglets (p > 0.10). The 16S rRNA sequencing of ileal and cecal microbiota revealed that only the relative abundance of Actinobacteriota at the phyla level was significantly greater in the ileum of the A group compared to the other treatments (p < 0.05). There was a clear effect on seven bacteria in the top 30 genera of ileum and cecum for five groups (p < 0.05). The result of PICRUSt predicted that the intestinal microbe was mainly involved in carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, membrane transport, and metabolism of cofactors and vitamins. Besides, adding calcium citrate to a weaned piglet diet is better than other choices from the third week to the fourth week. In conclusion, diets with different calcium sources changed ADFI and some intestinal microbial composition of weaned piglets but had little effect on intestinal microbial function.

Dietary Tryptophan Supplementation Improves Antioxidant Status and Alleviates Inflammation, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Apoptosis, and Pyroptosis in the Intestine of Piglets after Lipopolysaccharide Challenge.

Tryptophan can alleviate stress and improve intestinal health, but the precise mechanism has not been fully elucidated. This study aimed to examine the effects of tryptophan supplementation on antioxidant status, inflammation, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, apoptosis, and pyroptosis signaling pathway in the intestine of piglets after Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. Thirty-two weaning piglets were allotted to four treatments including: non-challenged control, LPS-challenged control, LPS + 0.2% tryptophan and LPS + 0.4% tryptophan. On day 35 of feeding, piglets were injected intraperitoneally with 100 μg/kg of body weight LPS or saline. Among the LPS-challenged pigs, tryptophan supplementation improved intestinal morphology as indicated by greater villus height, villus area and smaller crypt depth, and antioxidant status, and decreased the mRNA expression and concentration of proinflammatory cytokines. Moreover, tryptophan downregulated the expression of ER stress (ER oxidoreductase-1α, ER oxidoreductase-1β, glucose-regulated protein-78, activating transcription factor 6, C/EBP homologous protein), apoptosis (B-cell lymphoma-2, BCL2-associated X protein, caspase 3), and pyroptosis signaling pathway (nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor protein 3, caspase 1, gasdermin-D, apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a CARD). Collectively, tryptophan supplementation can contribute to gut health by improving antioxidant status and alleviating inflammation, ER stress, apoptosis, and pyroptosis in the intestine of piglets after lipopolysaccharide challenge.

Extruded Enzyme-Added Corn Improves the Growth Performance, Intestinal Function, and Microbiome of Weaning Piglets.

Simple SummaryEnergy feeds such as corn, wheat, and barley usually contain large amounts of raw starch, which is generally required to be extruded for animals. In addition, amylase preparations are widely added into the diet to degrade raw starch and promote its digestion in livestock animals. The in vitro degradation of corn starch could be a strategy for improving the starch digestion, as it is unknown whether the starch structure and its in vivo digestion could be improved by adding amylase during extrusion, regulating the extrusion moisture content. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effects of extruded corn with added amylase under different moisture conditions on the growth performance, intestinal function, and microbiome of weaning piglets.The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of extruded corn with added amylase under different moisture conditions on the growth performance, intestinal function, and microbiome of weaning piglets. Fourty-eight 24-day-old weaning piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire, weaned at 22 ± 1 d) with an initial body weight of 6.76 ± 0.15 kg were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments with six replicates per treatment and two pigs per replicate: (1) NL (adding 7.5% water before corn extrusion, negative treatment with low moisture); (2) NH (adding 15.0% water before corn extrusion, negative treatment with high moisture); (3) PL (adding 7.5% water and 4 kg/t α-amylase before corn extrusion, positive treatment with low moisture); and (4) PH (adding 15% water and 4 kg/t α-amylase before corn extrusion, positive treatment with high moisture). Results showed that amylase supplementation (4 vs. 0 kg/t) increased the contents of small molecular oligosaccharides of extruded corn (p < 0.05). Amylase supplementation significantly improved the average daily feed intake, apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of dry matter, crude protein, gross energy, crude fat, ash, phosphorus, and calcium, and also increased the activities of jejunal trypsin, α-amylase, lipase, sucrase, maltase, γ-glutamyl transferase and alkaline phosphatase activities, improved the duodenal, jejunal and ileal morphology, and increased the relative mRNA expressions of the ZO-1, OCLN, SGLT1, and GLUT2 genes in the jejunum (p < 0.05), whereas it decreased the contents of isobutyric acid in cecal digesta, as well as acetic acid and isobutyric acid in colonic digesta (p < 0.05). Moreover, the linear discriminant analysis effect size (LEfSe) showed that piglets fed extruded corn with added enzymes contained less intestinal pathogenic bacteria, such as Holdemanella and Desulfovibrio, compared with piglets fed just extruded corn. In summary, the results of the present study indicated that the supplementation of α-amylase during the conditioning and extruding process of corn increased the small molecular oligosaccharide content of corn starch. Moreover, piglets receiving extruded enzyme-added corn had better growth performance, which was associated with the improved intestinal digestive and absorptive function, as well as the intestinal microbiome.

Effect of dietary Pinus densiflora bark extract on activity and mRNA expression of antioxidant enzyme in weaning piglets

Various stresses by weaning and rapid growth have a great impact on the piglets growth. In this study, we studied the impact of Pinus densiflora bark extract (PBE) on oxidative stress during weaning piglets. 96 crossbreed weaning piglets [(Landrace × Large White × Yorkshire) × (Duroc × Pietrain)] with average initial body weight (BW) of 7.71 ± 0.07 kg were divided randomly into 4 treatment groups (0, 100, 200, 300mg/kg PBE, respectively), with 3 replicates per treatment and 8 piglets per replicate. The dietary PBE significantly enhanced the total antioxidant status (TAS; p < 0.001 in liver, p < 0.01 in serum and p < 0.05 in muscle) and decreased the lipid peroxidation (p < 0.01 in serum and liver, p < 0.05 in muscle), while remarkably increased activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD, p < 0.01), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px; p < 0.001 in muscle, p < 0.01 in liver and p < 0.05 in serum) and catalase (CAT; p < 0.01 in muscle and liver, p < 0.05 in serum) than those of control group in weaning piglets. PBE supplementation significantly increased the transcript levels of antioxidant enzyme genes such as SOD, GSH-Px and CAT, showed dose-dependent effect. During the experiment, the average daily gain (ADG) and feed/gain ratio (F/G) ratio were also calculated, indicating that PBE supplement had no adverse impact on growth performance. This study indicated that dietary PBE could enhance the antioxidant enzyme activity and their genes expression, suggesting the possibility of increasing the resistance to weanling stress in weaned piglets.

Inclusion of cinnamon and banana flavorings in the diet of weaning piglets

The weaning period is one of the most critical stages in pig farming because of the stress that animals suffer when separated from their sow, along with the health challenge, fights for hierarchy, food competition and several other factors, which causes a decrease in their feed intake affecting their weight gain. Thus, the objective of this work was to determine the efficacy of including flavorings (cinnamon and banana) in the diet of recently weaned piglets on their weight gain, feed intake and feed/gain ratio. For this, 20 weaned and castrated 28-day-old male piglets weighing between 6.5 - 8 kg were randomly divided into five groups: Control treatment: unflavored food; Treatment 1: food with banana flavor; Treatment 2: food with canela flavor: Treatment 3: food with banana for 10 days - canela 10 days and banana 10 days; and Treatment 4: : food with canela for 10 days - banana 10 days and canela 10 days. The flavorings were added at 1 g/kg of the diet. The feeding period lasted 30 days for each treatment. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for the statistical analysis, and differences were accepted with p &lt;0.05. At the end of the study, it was determined that the weight gain, feed intake and feed/gain ratio were similar between the treatments (P&gt; 0.05). From this, it can be suggested that the inclusion of flavorings (cinnamon and banana) in the diet of weaning piglets does not improve their growth performance.

Effects of Immobilized Antimicrobial Peptides on Growth Performance, Serum Biochemical Index, Inflammatory Factors, Intestinal Morphology, and Microbial Community in Weaning Pigs.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of immobilized antimicrobial peptides on growth performance, serum biochemical index, inflammatory factors, intestinal morphology, and microbial community of weaning piglets. A total of 21 weaning piglets [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] with initial body weight (7.64 ± 0.65 kg) were randomly allocated to one of three treatments with seven replicates (one pig per replicate) per treatment according to sex and weight in randomized complete block design. Pigs in the three treatments were fed corn–soybean meal-based diet (CON), corn–soybean meal based diet + flavomycin (25 mg/kg) + quinone (50 mg/kg) (AB), and corn–soybean meal based diet + 1,000 mg/kg immobilized antimicrobial peptides (IAMPs), respectively. The experiment lasted for 28 days, including early stage (0–14 days) and late stage (15–28 days). The results showed the following: (1) compared with the CON group, the average daily gain in the whole experimental time (p < 0.05) was significantly increased, and the diarrhea rate of weaning piglets was decreased (p < 0.01) in the IAMPs group; (2) compared with the CON group, the concentrations of serum IgM and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the IAMPs group were significantly higher than the CON and AB groups (p < 0.01); (3) compared with CON group, the concentrations of serum interleukin (IL)-10 and transforming growth factor (TGF-β) were significantly increased (p < 0.05), and the concentration of IL-12 was significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the IAMPs group; (4) compared with CON group, the concentrations of serum endotoxin and D-lactate of piglets were significantly reduced (p < 0.05), and the relative expression of ZO-1 and occludin in the jejunum of piglets were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the IAMPs group; (5) compared with the CON group, the villus height of the duodenum and jejunum of weaning piglets in IAMPs and AB groups was significantly increased (p < 0.05); and (6) compared with CON group, the relative abundance of Escherichia–Shigella in the colon and cecal digesta was decreased. In summary, the addition of 1,000 mg/kg immobilized antimicrobial peptides in the diet effectively relieved weaning stress by showing improved growth performance, antioxidant and immune capacity, intestinal morphology, and microorganisms.