title: Aged garlic extract and allicin improve performance and gastrointestinal tract development of piglets reared in artificial sow.
abstract: This study was performed to investigate whether postnatal administration with aged garlic extract (AGE) and allicin influences performance and systemic development of piglets exposed to early weaning. Twenty-four male piglets were weaned from sows at the age of two days of life, divided into 4 weight-matched groups and kept under conditions of artificial sow for 6 days. The first group consisted of control animals, while piglets that were given AGE daily per os at the dosages of 1 ml and 2 ml/kg body weight, respectively belonged to the second and third group. The fourth group consisted of piglets administered orally with allicin at the dosage of 1.0 mg/kg body weight/day. At the age of 8 days of life all animals were sacrificed. Next to body weight gain and morphological properties of the gastrointestinal tract, the haematological examination was performed, and activity of lysozyme and ceruloplasmin as well as level of gamma-globulins were determined. The obtained results showed that AGE and allicin improved final body weight, morphological properties of intestine villi and non-specific defence mechanisms of pigs. All these results indicate that AGE and allicin induced beneficial effects on health status, performance and systemic development of piglets.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 12, 20-950 Lublin, Poland. marcinta@o2.pl
authors.forename: Marcin R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Tatara
authors.forename: Ewa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sliwa
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dudek
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gawron
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Piersiak
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dobrowolski
authors.forename: Jerzy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mosiewicz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siwicki
authors.forename: Tadeusz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Studzinski
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004220:Disulfides; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005737:Garlic / Q000737:chemistry*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development*; D006304:Health Status; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D013441:Sulfinic Acids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013552:Swine / Q000254:growth & development*; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D004220:Disulfides; D010936:Plant Extracts; D013441:Sulfinic Acids; C006452:allicin