Influence of Different Cultures of Lactobacilli on Performance, Blood Chemistry, and Immune Response of Nursery Pigs

Food Science Graduate Progra

Influence of Curcumin on Growth Performance and Immune Status of Nursery Pigs

Five experiments were conducted to determine the effects of curcumin on growth performance and immune response of pigs. Experiment one evaluated the effects of increasing levels of turmeric on growth performance and immune response of nursery barrows. Increasing levels of turmeric powder quadratically increased final BW, ADG, and ADFI, and linearly increased G:F when compared to a control diet containing no antibiotics. Turmeric decreased the change in TNF-α at h 3 PI (post-injection) compared to the control diet. The second experiment was to determine the effects of curcumin supplementation vs. carbadox on growth performance and immune status of nursery pigs. Pigs fed 46 mg/kg of curcumin had similar final BW, ADG, ADFI, and G:F as pigs fed 55 mg/kg of carbadox. Curcumin had the lowest change in TNF-α at h 3 PI. Experiment three was a two-part study that examined the effects of increasing levels of curcumin on growth performance and immune status of nursery pigs. Pigs fed increasing levels of curcumin had similar growth performance when compared to pigs fed the antibiotic in study 1. Curcumin decreased the change in TNF-α at h 3 PI. However, in study 2, pigs fed increasing levels of curcumin had decreased final BW, ADG, and G:F when compared with the antibiotic. Pigs fed curcumin had similar TNF-α concentrations compared with pigs fed the antibiotic. Experiment four evaluated the long-term effects of increasing levels of curcumin on growth performance and carcass characteristics of finisher pigs. There were no differences observed in growth performance, carcass, or meat quality characteristics in pigs fed curcumin compared with pigs fed an antibiotic. The last experiment was to determine the potential for increasing soybean meal usage in diets of weanling pigs fed curcumin. Curcumin numerically increased final ADG and ADFI, but had no effect on fecal consistency of nursery pigs. The 30% soybean meal-based diet decreased ADG, ADFI, and G:F for d 0-21 and decreased fecal consistency. In conclusion, these results suggest that 46 to 94 mg/kg of curcumin in the diet maximizes growth performance and improves immune response and may have the potential to replace antibiotics in feed.Animal Scienc

Induction of porcine host defense peptide gene expression by short-chain fatty acids and their analogs.

Dietary modulation of the synthesis of endogenous host defense peptides (HDPs) represents a novel antimicrobial approach for disease control and prevention, particularly against antibiotic-resistant infections. However, HDP regulation by dietary compounds such as butyrate is species-dependent. To examine whether butyrate could induce HDP expression in pigs, we evaluated the expressions of a panel of porcine HDPs in IPEC-J2 intestinal epithelial cells, 3D4/31 macrophages, and primary monocytes in response to sodium butyrate treatment by real-time PCR. We revealed that butyrate is a potent inducer of multiple, but not all, HDP genes. Porcine β-defensin 2 (pBD2), pBD3, epididymis protein 2 splicing variant C (pEP2C), and protegrins were induced markedly in response to butyrate, whereas pBD1 expression remained largely unaltered in any cell type. Additionally, a comparison of the HDP-inducing efficacy among saturated free fatty acids of different aliphatic chain lengths revealed that fatty acids containing 3-8 carbons showed an obvious induction of HDP expression in IPEC-J2 cells, with butyrate being the most potent and long-chain fatty acids having only a marginal effect. We further investigated a panel of butyrate analogs for their efficacy in HDP induction, and found glyceryl tributyrate, benzyl butyrate, and 4-phenylbutyrate to be comparable with butyrate. Identification of butyrate and several analogs with a strong capacity to induce HDP gene expression in pigs provides attractive candidates for further evaluation of their potential as novel alternatives to antibiotics in augmenting innate immunity and disease resistance of pigs

Butyrate-induced expression of pBD2, pBD3, pEP2C, and PG1-5 in porcine IPEC-J2 intestinal epithelial cells.

<p>Cells were incubated in duplicate with indicated concentrations of butyrate for 24 h (A) or 8 mM of butyrate for 6, 12, and 24 h (B). Gene expression was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The relative fold changes over the unstimulated control were calculated with the ΔΔCt method using porcine glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene for normalization. Data were means ± standard error of a representative of two independent experiments. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01, and ***<i>P</i><0.001 (in comparison with solvent controls by unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test).</p

Regulation of pBD2, pBD3, and pEP2C expression by short-chain fatty acids and their phenyl derivatives.

<p>Porcine IPEC-J2 cells were inbubated in duplicate with indicated concentrations of each compound (A) for 24 h. HDP gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR. The relative fold changes (B) over the unstimulated control were calculated with the ΔΔCt method using porcine glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene for normalization. Data were means ± standard error of a representative of 2–3 independent experiments. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01, and ***<i>P</i><0.001 (in comparison with solvent controls by unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test).</p

Regulation of pBD2, pBD3, and pEP2C expression by saturated free fatty acids.

<p>Porcine IPEC-J2 cells were incubated in duplicate with indicated concentrations of saturated free fatty acids for 24 h. Gene expression was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The relative fold changes over the unstimulated control were calculated with the ΔΔCt method using porcine glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene for normalization. Data were means ± standard error of a representative of 2–3 independent experiments. Abbreviations: SCFA, short-chain fatty acids; MCFA, medium-chain fatty acids; LCFA, long-chain fatty acids. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01, and ***<i>P</i><0.001 (in comparison with solvent controls by unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test).</p

Butyrate-induced expression of pBD2, pBD3, and PG1-5 in porcine 3D4/31 macrophage cells (A) and pBD2 in primary monocytes (B).

<p>Cells were incubated in duplicate with indicated concentrations of butyrate for 24 h. Gene expression was analyzed by real-time RT-PCR. The relative fold changes over the unstimulated control were calculated with the ΔΔCt method using porcine glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) gene for normalization. Data were means ± standard error of a representative of 2–3 independent experiments. *<i>P</i><0.05, **<i>P</i><0.01, and ***<i>P</i><0.001 (in comparison with solvent controls by unpaired Student’s <i>t</i>-test).</p