Effects of chito-oligosaccharide supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, and fecal shedding of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus in weaning pigs
P Liu, XS Piao, SW Kim, L Wang, YB Shen, HS Lee and SY Li. 2008. Journal of Animal Science, 86:2609-2618.
09-Sep-2009 (16 years 8 months 29 days ago)Certain oligosaccharides, including galacto-oligosaccharide, manano-oligosaccharide, and fructo-oligasaccharide, may improve growth performance in young pigs. Chito-oligosaccharide (COS) can be efficiently derived by chemical and enzymatic hydrolysis of poly-chitosan, which is the second most abundant carbohydrate polymer in nature. It has been recently reported that COS have immune-enhancing characteristics, antibacterial activity, and protection against pathogenic infections. Therefore, the present experiment was conducted to test the effect of dietary COS supplementation on growth performance, intestinal structure, and faecal shedding of total Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus in weaning pigs.
A total of 50 weaning pigs (16 d of age; 4.72 ± 0.23 kg of BW) were individually housed in metabolic cages. Pigs were randomly assigned to 5 treatments (n = 10), including 1 basal diet (control), 3 diets with COS supplementation (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), and 1 diet with chlortetracycline (CTC) supplementation (80 mg/kg). Fresh faecal samples were collected to evaluate shedding of E. coli and Lactobacillus on d 0, 7, 14, and 21 post-weaning. Fresh faecal samples collected from each cage from d 19 to 21 were stored frozen for determination of apparent total tract digestibility. On d 21, all pigs were killed to collect the middle sections of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum for determination of mucosa morphology.
Supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC improved (P < 0.05) overall ADG, ADFI, and G:F in comparison with the control. Supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg as well as supplementation of CTC increased (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of DM, GE, CP, crude fat, Ca, and P, whereas COS at 100 mg/kg increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of DM, Ca, and P in comparison with the control diet. Pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS or CTC had a decreased (P < 0.05) incidence of diarrhoea and decreased diarrhoea scores compared with control pigs. Fecal samples from pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS had greater (P < 0.05) Lactobacillus counts than those from control pigs and pigs receiving diets supplemented with CTC on d 14 and 21. However, supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC decreased (P < 0.05) E. coli counts in the feces on d 21 compared with the control diet. Dietary supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and of CTC increased (P < 0.05) the villus height and villus:crypt ratio at the ileum and jejunum, and COS at 100 mg/kg also increased (P < 0.05) the villus height in the ileum compared with the control diet.
It is concluded that dietary supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg enhanced growth performance by increasing apparent digestibility, decreasing the incidence of diarrhoea, and improving small intestinal morphology.
A total of 50 weaning pigs (16 d of age; 4.72 ± 0.23 kg of BW) were individually housed in metabolic cages. Pigs were randomly assigned to 5 treatments (n = 10), including 1 basal diet (control), 3 diets with COS supplementation (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), and 1 diet with chlortetracycline (CTC) supplementation (80 mg/kg). Fresh faecal samples were collected to evaluate shedding of E. coli and Lactobacillus on d 0, 7, 14, and 21 post-weaning. Fresh faecal samples collected from each cage from d 19 to 21 were stored frozen for determination of apparent total tract digestibility. On d 21, all pigs were killed to collect the middle sections of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum for determination of mucosa morphology.
Supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC improved (P < 0.05) overall ADG, ADFI, and G:F in comparison with the control. Supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg as well as supplementation of CTC increased (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of DM, GE, CP, crude fat, Ca, and P, whereas COS at 100 mg/kg increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of DM, Ca, and P in comparison with the control diet. Pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS or CTC had a decreased (P < 0.05) incidence of diarrhoea and decreased diarrhoea scores compared with control pigs. Fecal samples from pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS had greater (P < 0.05) Lactobacillus counts than those from control pigs and pigs receiving diets supplemented with CTC on d 14 and 21. However, supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC decreased (P < 0.05) E. coli counts in the feces on d 21 compared with the control diet. Dietary supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and of CTC increased (P < 0.05) the villus height and villus:crypt ratio at the ileum and jejunum, and COS at 100 mg/kg also increased (P < 0.05) the villus height in the ileum compared with the control diet.
It is concluded that dietary supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg enhanced growth performance by increasing apparent digestibility, decreasing the incidence of diarrhoea, and improving small intestinal morphology.