PSV-11 Effects of plasma protein on growth performance and intestinal health of weaned pigs

• Published in: Journal of animal science Vol. 97; no. Supplement_2; p. 197
• Main Authors: Martinez Padilla, Gabriela E, Silva-Guillen, Ysenia Victoria, Moran, Kory, Lin, Xi, Odle, Jack, Heugten, Eric van
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign Oxford University Press 01.07.2019
• Subjects: Antibiotics; Blood; Cell proliferation; Cytokines; Cytology; Diarrhea; Diet; Dietary supplements; Duodenum; Eosinophils; Erythrocytes; Health; Hogs; Ileum; Interferon; Interleukin 10; Intestine; Jejunum; Leukocytes (eosinophilic); Minerals; Morphology; Mucosa; Physical growth; Proteins; Tumor necrosis factor-α
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.1093/jas/skz122.346

Abstract This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of using plasma protein (PP) as a highly digestible, functional protein source in nursery pig diets on growth performance and intestinal health. Pigs (n = 64; 6.53 ± 0.12 kg BW) weaned at 21 d of age were blocked by litter and BW and randomly assigned within blocks to 1 of 2 dietary treatments in a 35-d study. Four pigs were housed per pen, using a total of 16 pens (8 replicate pens per treatment). Treatments were: 1) control diet (without growth-promoting minerals or antibiotics) without PP, and 2) control diet with 4% of PP replacing SBM on a 1:1 basis. Diets were fed in 3 feeding phases (7, 14, and 14 days, respectively) and PP was included in all phases. Supplementation of PP tended (P = 0.07) to increase ADG (204 vs. 150 g/d) and improved (P = 0.02) gain:feed (812 vs 572 g/kg) during wk 2 only. Individual diarrhea scores (scale from 0=very hard to 6=watery diarrhea) determined using fecal loops changed over time (P < 0.001; 2.1, 2.4, 4.1 and 3.5 for d 1, 3, 7, and 14 respectively), but were not affected by PP. No differences were detected for intestinal morphology measured on d 35 in duodenum, jejunum and ileum. Cell proliferation using Ki-67 staining was increased by PP (86.6 vs. 72.2 positive cells) only in the ileum (P = 0.03). No differences in mucosal concentrations of IL-10, TNF-α, and IFN-γ in the duodenum, jejunum or ileum were detected. Number of eosinophils in blood decreased (14.1 vs. 34.8 cells/µL; P = 0.004), while red blood cell counts (5.9 vs 6.2 x 106 cells/µL; P = 0.09) and neutrophil counts (529 vs. 695 cells/µL; P = 0.07) tended to decrease with PP. Results suggest that PP was not effective in improving overall growth performance and had minimal effects on intestinal health of weanling pigs.