Essential oils improve nursery pigs' performance and appetite via modulation of intestinal health and microbiota.

Optimal intestinal health and functionality are essential for animal health and performance, and simultaneously intestinal nutrient transporters and intestinal peptides are also involved in appetite and feed intake control mechanisms. Given the potential of essential oil (EO) in improving animal performance and improving feed palatability, we hypothesized that dietary supplementation of cinnamaldehyde and carvacrol could improve performance and appetite of nursery pigs by modulating intestinal health and microbiota. Cinnamaldehyde (100 mg/kg), carvacrol (100 mg/kg), and their mixtures (including 50 mg/kg cinnamaldehyde and 50 mg/kg carvacrol) were supplemented into the diets of 240 nursery pigs for 42 d, and data related to performance were measured. Thereafter, the influence of EO on intestinal health, appetite and gut microbiota and their correlations were explored. EO supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the body weight, average daily gain (ADG) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of piglets, and reduced (P < 0.05) diarrhea rates in nursery pigs. Furthermore, EO increased (P < 0.05) the intestinal absorption area and the abundance of tight junction proteins, and decreased (P < 0.05) intestinal permeability and local inflammation. In terms of intestinal development and the mucus barrier, EO promoted intestinal development and increased (P < 0.05) the number of goblet cells. Additionally, we found that piglets in the EO-supplemented group had upregulated (P < 0.05) levels of transporters and digestive enzymes in the intestine, which were significantly associated with daily gain and feed utilization. In addition, EO supplementation somewhat improved appetite in nursery pigs, increased the diversity of the gut microbiome and the abundance of beneficial bacteria, and there was a correlation between altered bacterial structure and appetite-related hormones. These findings indicate that EO is effective in promoting growth performance and nutrient absorption as well as in regulating appetite by improving intestinal health and bacterial structure.

Effects of dietary supplementation with a carvacrol-cinnamaldehyde-thymol blend on growth performance and intestinal health of nursery pigs.

BACKGROUND: Stress, herd transfer, and food changes experienced by nursery and fattening pigs can lead to reduced performance, reduced digestion and absorption, and impaired intestinal health. Given the role of essential oils in relieving stress and improving animal welfare, we hypothesized that essential oils may improve pig performance via promoting gut health and gut homeostasis laid by EOs supplementation during nursery continuously impacts performance in fattening pigs. RESULTS: A total of 100 piglets (Landrace × Large White; weighted 8.08 ± 0.34 kg, weaned at d 28) were randomly selected and divided into 2 treatments: (1) basal diet (Con); (2) basal diet supplement with 0.1% complex essential oils (CEO). The experiment period was 42 days. Then weaned piglets' growth performance and indications of intestinal health were assessed. Compared to the Con group, dietary supplemented CEO enhanced BW at 14 d (P < 0.05), and increased ADG during 1 ~ 14 d and 1 ~ 42 d (P < 0.05). Furthermore, CEO group had lower FCR during 1 ~ 42 d (P < 0.05). The CEO group also showed higher VH and VH:CD in duodenum and ileum (P < 0.05). Additionally, dietary CEO supplementation improved gut barrier function, as manifested by increased the mRNA expression of tight-junction protein and decreased serum DAO, ET and D-LA levels (P < 0.05). Finally, CEO supplementation alleviated gut inflammation, increased the activity of digestive enzymes. Importantly, piglets supplemented with CEOs during nursery also had better performance during fattening, suggesting that the establishment of intestinal health will also continuously affect subsequent digestion and absorption capacity. In short, dietary supplemented CEO improved performance and gut health via modulating increased intestine absorptive area, barrier integrity, digestive enzyme activity, and attenuating intestine inflammation. Meanwhile, essential oil supplementation during the nursery period also had a favorable effect on the performance of growing pigs. CONCLUSIONS: Therefore, the strategy of adding CEO to pig diets as a growth promoter and enhancing intestinal health is feasible.

Effects of alkaline mineral complex water supplementation on growth performance, inflammatory response, and intestinal barrier function in weaned piglets.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of drinking water alkaline mineral complex (AMC) supplementation on growth performance, intestinal morphology, inflammatory response, immunity, antioxidant defense system, and barrier functions in weaned piglets. In a 15-d trial, 240 weaned piglets (9.35 ± 0.86 kg) at 28 d of age (large white × landrace × Duroc) were randomly divided into two groups: the control (Con) group and the AMC group. Drinking water AMC supplementation improved (P < 0.01) final body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) in weaned piglets compared to the Con group. Importantly, AMC reduced (P < 0.01) the feed-to-gain (F:G) ratio. AMC water improved the physical health conditions of piglets under weaning stress, as reflected by the decreased (P < 0.05) hair score and conjunctival score. Moreover, there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference in relatively small intestinal length, organ (liver, spleen, and kidney) indices, or gastrointestinal pH value in weaned piglets between the two groups. Of note, AMC significantly promoted the microvilli numbers in the small intestine and effectively ameliorated the gut morphology damage induced by weaning stress, as evidenced by the increased (P < 0.05) villous height (VH) and ratio of VH to crypt depth. Additionally, AMC lessened the levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS, P < 0.01) and the contents of IL1ß (P<0.05), and TNF-α (P<0.05) in the weaned piglet small intestine. Conversely, the gut immune barrier marker, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) levels in serum and small intestine mucosa were elevated after AMC water treatment (P < 0.01). Furthermore, AMC elevated the antioxidant mRNA levels of (P < 0.05) SOD 1-2, (P < 0.01) CAT, and (P < 0.01) GPX 1-2 in the small intestine. Likewise, the mRNA levels of the small intestine tight junction factors Occludin (P < 0.01), ZO-1 (P < 0.05), Claudin 2 (P < 0.01), and Claudin 5 (P<0.01) in the AMC treatment group were notably higher than those in the Con group. In conclusion, drinking water AMC supplementation has an accelerative effect on growth performance by elevating gut health by improving intestinal morphology, the inflammatory response, the antioxidant defense system, and barrier function in weaned piglets.

The piglet suffers vital physiological, environmental, and social challenges when it is weaned from the sow that can predispose the piglet to subsequent diseases and other production losses, and these challenges are responsible for serious economic losses to the swine industry. Weaning stress induces intestinal injury, decreased immunity, and digestive system dysfunction, which then reduces feed intake and inhibits the growth performance of piglets. It is well known that alternatives to antibiotics for preventing weaning stress in weaned farm animals are sorely needed. The biologically beneficial effects of alkaline mineral water are widely reported. Alkaline mineral complex (AMC), as an immunomodulator, is considered to have antistress effects in the swine industry. In addition, treatment through drinking water is considered to be an efficient and low-cost feasible disease control strategy. Drinking water AMC supplementation is expected to exert health benefits in pigs; however, the responses of weaned piglets to water supplemented with AMC have not been fully explored. Thus, this study explored the effects of drinking water AMC supplementation on growth performance and gut health in weaned piglets. Our results showed that AMC water supplementation conspicuously enhanced the growth performance by improving the gut health.

Astragalus polysaccharide mitigates transport stress-induced hepatic metabolic stress via improving hepatic glucolipid metabolism in chicks.

In the modern poultry industry, newly hatched chicks are unavoidably transported from the hatching to the rearing foster. Stress caused by multiple physical and psychological stressors during transportation is particularly harmful to the liver. Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) possesses multiple benefits against hepatic metabolic disorders. Given that transport stress could disturb hepatic glucolipid metabolism and the role of APS in metabolic regulation, we speculated that APS could antagonize transport stress-induced disorder of hepatic glucolipid metabolism. Firstly, newly hatched chicks were transported for 0, 2, 4, and 8 h, respectively. Subsequently, to further investigate the effects of APS on transport stress-induced hepatic glucolipid metabolism disturbance, chicks were pretreated with water or APS and then subjected to transport treatment. Our study suggested that APS could relieve transport stress-induced lipid deposition in liver. Meanwhile, transport stress also induced disturbances in glucose metabolism, reflected by augmented mRNA expression of key molecules in gluconeogenesis and glycogenolysis. Surprisingly, APS could simultaneously alleviate these alterations via peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1 alpha (PGC-1α)/Sirtuin 1 (SIRT1)/AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway. Moreover, APS treatment regulated the level of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARα) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), thereby alleviating transport stress-induced alterations of VLDL synthesis, cholesterol metabolism, lipid oxidation, synthesis, and transport-related molecules. These findings indicated that APS could prevent the potential against transport stress-induced hepatic glucolipid metabolism disorders via PGC-1α/SIRT1/AMPK/PPARα/PPARγ signaling system.

In the modern poultry industry, newly hatched chicks are unavoidably transported from the hatching to the rearing foster. During transportation, chicks are frequently subjected to various physical and psychological stressors, which can lead to alterations in blood composition, hormones, metabolites, enzymes, and behavior. These alterations adversely affect animal health and welfare. Stress caused by transportation is especially harmful to liver, which can cause significant effects on liver function, and disturb hepatic lipid metabolism and glucose metabolic. The current study demonstrated that Astragalus polysaccharide (APS) possesses multiple benefits against hepatic metabolic disorders. Administration of APS to chicks before transport could prevent transport-induced stress and hepatic glucolipid metabolism disorders.

Cadmium-induced splenic lymphocytes anoikis is not mitigated by activating Nrf2-mediated antioxidative defense response.

Cadmium (Cd) is a widely used heavy metal which is reported to exert extensive harm to the environment and human health. Owing to Cd being an element it is continuously enriched in the environment. The mechanism of splenic toxicity by Cd, however, is not yet clear. In order to explore the toxic mechanism of Cd exposure to the spleen, we added 0, 35, 70 and 140 mg/kg of Cd to the diet of chicken and fed them this diet for 90 days. Analysis of histopathological sections showed that Cd exposure damaged the spleen structure, the spleen red pulp, the white pulp boundary disappeared and the number of lymphocytes decreased significantly, suggesting that Cd exposure leads to organ injury to the spleen. Particularly, Cd-induced anoikis - a special form of programmed cell death caused by the loss of contact between cells and extracellular matrix and other cells - is associated with integrin-related cell detachment and activation of apoptotic signaling pathways. Moreover, Cd exposure leads to an increase in free radicals content and affects the activity of antioxidant enzymes resulting in oxidative stress. Simultaneously, Cd activated the body's antioxidant defense system mediated by the Nuclear factor related factor 2 (Nrf2) signaling pathway. Based on our results Cd-induced splenic lymphocytes anoikis is not mitigated by Nrf2-mediated antioxidative defense response.

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) induced lipid metabolism disorder in liver via activating the LXR/SREBP-1c/PPARα/γ and NF-κB signaling pathway.

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) has been widely used in many fields (agricultural products, medical instruments, and food packing). As an environmental contaminant, DEHP has a negative impact on human and animal health, and thus toxicity caused by DEHP is increasingly serious health concern. Nevertheless, DEHP-induced liver damage in quail remains unclear. To investigate the mechanism of liver damage caused by DEHP, male quail were treated with DEHP (250, 500, and 750 mg/kg) by gavage. Notably, DEHP exposure results in increased blood lipids and the accumulation of triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) in the liver. Histopathological analysis showed that steatosis and inflammatory cell infiltration were observed in the liver tissue of quails exposed to DEHP. The results of Oil Red O staining displayed that DEHP induced lipid storage in the liver. Moreover, DEHP induced lipid metabolism disorders by activating the LXR/SREBP-1c and PPARα/γ signaling pathway. DEHP exposure obviously caused the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (NF-κB, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1ß, and TNF-a). This study showed that DEHP could induce lipid metabolism disorders and inflammatory response via LXR/SREBP-1c/PPARα/γ and NF-κB signaling pathways.