A comparative study of alternatives to pharmacological doses of zinc for improving gut health parameters in weaning piglets

• Published in: Journal of animal science Vol. 94; pp. 472 - 475
• Main Authors: Mukhopadhya, A, Sweeney, T, O'Shea, C, O'Doherty, J V
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Champaign Oxford University Press 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Alternatives; Animals; Cecum; Comparative studies; Diet; Dietary supplements; E coli; Gene expression; Glucan; Hogs; Interleukin 17; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; Inulin; Microbiota; Parameters; Pharmacology; Sodium; Weaning; Yeast; Zinc; Zinc oxide; Zinc oxides; β-Glucan; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 0021-8812; 1525-3163
• DOI: 10.2527/jas2015-9782

The objective of this study was to determine if supplementing weaning piglets with sodium caseinate hydrolysate (NaCH), inulin, or yeast β-glucan could improve gut health parameters in a comparable manner to pharmacological levels of zinc oxide (ZnO). Forty 21-d-old weaning piglets (7.3 ± 0.2 kg) were assigned to dietary groups, T1) control diet (CD) + ZnO (3.1 g/kg), T2) CD, T3) CD + NaCH (0.25 g/kg), T4) CD + inulin (40 g/kg), and T5) CD + yeast β-glucan (0.25 g/kg) for 12 d (n = 8 per group), and housed individually. Feces consistencies were scored daily, and animals were weighed on d 0 and 12. Following humane sacrifice on d 12, cecal and colonic digesta and colonic tissue samples were collected. The BW of ZnO and inulin groups were higher compared to other groups, whereas the fecal scores of the ZnO group were lowest from d 8 compared to other groups. Higher abundances of Enterobacteria and attaching-effacing Escherichia coli (AEEC) strains were recorded in cecal digesta of inulin and yeast β-glucan groups (P < 0.05) compared to ZnO animals, while no difference was observed between ZnO and NaCH groups. The ZnO and NaCH supplementation downregulated IL-1γ, IL-1β, IL-8, and IL-17 gene expression (P < 0.05) compared to control group, whereas inulin upregulated IL-1α and yeast β-glucan upregulated IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-17, and IFN-γ expression compared to the ZnO group. In summary, ZnO and NaCH modulated a selected panel of cecal microbiota and colonic cytokine genes in a similar manner, whereas only ZnO supplementation improved the fecal scores of piglets.