title: Effects of chito-oligosaccharide supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, and fecal shedding of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus in weaning pigs.
abstract: A total of 50 weaning pigs (16 d of age; 4.72 +/- 0.23 kg of BW) were selected to investigate the effect of dietary chito-oligosaccharide (COS) supplementation on growth performance, fecal shedding of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus, apparent digestibility, and small intestinal morphology. Pigs housed in individual metabolic cages were assigned randomly 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 fecal samples were collected to evaluate shedding of E. coli and Lactobacillus on d 0, 7, 14, and 21 postweaning. Fresh fecal 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 diarrhea and decreased diarrhea 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. The current results indicated that dietary supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg enhanced growth performance by increasing apparent digestibility, decreasing the incidence of diarrhea, and improving small intestinal morphology.
authors.affiliation: China Agricultural University, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, Beijing 100193, China.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: X S
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Piao
authors.forename: S W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Y B
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: H S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000662:veterinary; D004032:Diet / Q000662:veterinary; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004063:Digestion / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000502:physiology; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013552:Swine / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D009844:Oligosaccharides