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Weaning is a critical period in piglets, often associated with intestinal barrier disruption, impaired nutrient absorption, and reduced growth performance.
Objective: This study evaluated the effects of dietary supplementation with spray-dried bovine colostrum or sodium butyrate on intestinal barrier function, nutrient absorption, and growth performance in weaned piglets.
Methods: Eighteen 28 days old piglets were randomly assigned to three dietary groups (n = 6): control (no additive), colostrum, and sodium butyrate. Piglets were fed standard prestarter and starter diets over a 28-day period. Growth performance and feed conversion ratio were recorded, and intestinal permeability was assessed using a sugar absorption test coupled with LC-MS/MS analysis of urinary sugars. Additional analyses included intestinal histomorphometry, brush border enzyme activities, immunohistochemical evaluation of tight junction proteins, hematological and biochemical profiling, and gene expression analysis.
Results: Colostrum supplementation significantly increased final body weight and average daily gain compared with the control and sodium butyrate groups and improved feed conversion ratio throughout both feeding phases. Sugar absorption tests showed increased urinary recovery of mannitol, lactulose, sucrose, and raffinose, indicating enhanced intestinal permeability and nutrient uptake. Histomorphological analysis revealed increased jejunal villus height and mucosal width. In addition, colostrum-fed piglets exhibited higher sucrase and lactase activities and upregulated expression of occludin and claudin-5. Sodium butyrate induced more modest effects, including increased ileal claudin-1 expression and higher dipeptidylpeptidase IV activity. Hematological parameters remained within physiological ranges, although lower gamma-glutamyl transferase levels in the colostrum group suggested reduced metabolic stress. No major differences were observed in cytokine gene expression between treatments.
Conclusion: Spray-dried bovine colostrum enhances intestinal maturation, digestive enzyme activity, and nutrient utilization in weaned piglets, leading to improved growth performance. Overall, bovine colostrum represents an effective nutritional strategy to support gut development and post-weaning adaptation.
Pieszka M, Szczepanik K, Kubica P, Oczkowicz M, Orczewska-Dudek S, Śliwiński B, Gala Ł. The effect of adding colostrum or sodium butyrate to the diet on the intestinal barrier of weaned piglets. PLoS One. 2026; 21(2): e0342570. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0342570.
