Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs
Weaning stress decreases the growth performance of piglets and is one of the main concerns of pig industries. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used to reduce the adverse effects of weaning stress as both nutritional supplements and antibiotic substitutes. This study aimed to evaluate t...
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| Format: | Article |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.971647/full |
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| author | Qinglei Xu Meng Cheng Rong Jiang Xianle Zhao Jianjin Zhu Mingzheng Liu Xiaohuan Chao Chunlei Zhang Bo Zhou |
| author_facet | Qinglei Xu Meng Cheng Rong Jiang Xianle Zhao Jianjin Zhu Mingzheng Liu Xiaohuan Chao Chunlei Zhang Bo Zhou |
| author_sort | Qinglei Xu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Weaning stress decreases the growth performance of piglets and is one of the main concerns of pig industries. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used to reduce the adverse effects of weaning stress as both nutritional supplements and antibiotic substitutes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a Chinese herbal mixture (Kangtaile, which contained Paeonia lactiflora, licorice, dandelion, and tea polyphenols) on the growth performances, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 400 weaned pigs [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] were randomly allocated into one of four treatments: the CON group, fed with basic diet; the HM1 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet; the HM2 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 g herbal mixture/kg diet; or the HM3 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet. The results revealed that dietary supplementation with the herbal mixture for 28 days improved average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, while decreased the diarrhea rate of weaned pigs. Moreover, dietary supple-mentation with the herbal mixture improved the antioxidant capacity through increasing the activity of catalase (CAT) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) level, while decreasing the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum. Pigs supplemented with herbal mixture presented an increased serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M level on day 14 compared with control pigs. The herbal mixture altered the composition of intestinal microbiota by influencing the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level. The relative abundances of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were significantly related to the body weight gain of pigs. In conclusion, supplementation of herbal mixture to the diet improved growth performance, immunity, and antioxidant capacity and modified the composition of intestinal microbiota in weaning pigs. This study provided new insights into the nutritional regulation effects of the herbal mixtures on weaned pigs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:49:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e7efe5767c1346cdb4e16f631cac2559 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2297-1769 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T00:49:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Veterinary Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-e7efe5767c1346cdb4e16f631cac25592022-12-22T01:26:41ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Veterinary Science2297-17692022-08-01910.3389/fvets.2022.971647971647Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigsQinglei Xu0Meng Cheng1Rong Jiang2Xianle Zhao3Jianjin Zhu4Mingzheng Liu5Xiaohuan Chao6Chunlei Zhang7Bo Zhou8College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaWuxi Sanzhi Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Wuxi, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaCollege of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, ChinaWeaning stress decreases the growth performance of piglets and is one of the main concerns of pig industries. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used to reduce the adverse effects of weaning stress as both nutritional supplements and antibiotic substitutes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a Chinese herbal mixture (Kangtaile, which contained Paeonia lactiflora, licorice, dandelion, and tea polyphenols) on the growth performances, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 400 weaned pigs [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] were randomly allocated into one of four treatments: the CON group, fed with basic diet; the HM1 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet; the HM2 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 g herbal mixture/kg diet; or the HM3 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet. The results revealed that dietary supplementation with the herbal mixture for 28 days improved average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, while decreased the diarrhea rate of weaned pigs. Moreover, dietary supple-mentation with the herbal mixture improved the antioxidant capacity through increasing the activity of catalase (CAT) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) level, while decreasing the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum. Pigs supplemented with herbal mixture presented an increased serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M level on day 14 compared with control pigs. The herbal mixture altered the composition of intestinal microbiota by influencing the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level. The relative abundances of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were significantly related to the body weight gain of pigs. In conclusion, supplementation of herbal mixture to the diet improved growth performance, immunity, and antioxidant capacity and modified the composition of intestinal microbiota in weaning pigs. This study provided new insights into the nutritional regulation effects of the herbal mixtures on weaned pigs.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.971647/fullweaned pigsherbal mixturegrowth performanceantioxidant capacitygut microbiota |
| spellingShingle | Qinglei Xu Meng Cheng Rong Jiang Xianle Zhao Jianjin Zhu Mingzheng Liu Xiaohuan Chao Chunlei Zhang Bo Zhou Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs Frontiers in Veterinary Science weaned pigs herbal mixture growth performance antioxidant capacity gut microbiota |
| title | Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| title_full | Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| title_fullStr | Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| title_short | Effects of dietary supplement with a Chinese herbal mixture on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| title_sort | effects of dietary supplement with a chinese herbal mixture on growth performance antioxidant capacity and gut microbiota in weaned pigs |
| topic | weaned pigs herbal mixture growth performance antioxidant capacity gut microbiota |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.971647/full |
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