The effects of mushroom powder and vitamin D2 -enriched mushroom powder supplementation on the growth performance and health of newly weaned pigs.

A complete randomised block design experiment was conducted to examine the effects of mushroom powder (MP) and vitamin D2 -enriched mushroom powder (MPD2 ) on growth performance, faecal scores, coefficient of apparent total tract digestibility (CATTD) of nutrients and selected microflora in weaned pigs up to day 35 post-weaning. One hundred and ninety-two weaned pigs (7.8kg [SD 1.08kg]) were blocked according to live weight, sex and litter of origin and randomly assigned to the following: (T1) control diet; (T2) control diet +MP; (T3) control diet + MPD2 ; and (T4) control diet +zinc oxide (ZnO) (n = 12 replicates/treatment). Mushroom powders were included at 2 g/kg of feed achieving a ß-glucan content of 200ppm. ZnO was included at 3100 mg/kg feed and halved to 1550 mg/kg after 21 days. Vitamin D content was enhanced in MPD2 using synthetic UVB exposure to obtain a vitamin D2 level of 100 µg/kg of feed. Faecal samples were collected on day 14 for microbial and nutrient digestibility analysis. There was no difference (p > 0.05) in ADG, G:F, faecal scores, microbial populations and CATTD of nutrients in pigs supplemented with MP or MPD2 compared with the control diet. The supplementation of MP and MPD2 caused a reduction (p < 0.05) in feed intake compared with the control and ZnO diet throughout the 35-day experimental period. ZnO supplementation increased ADG and ADFI (p < 0.05) during the first period (D0-21) compared with pigs offered MP and MPD2 . In conclusion, MP and MPD2 supplementation resulted in similar ADG, G:F, faecal scores compared with the control but were not comparable to ZnO, mainly due to a reduction in feed intake.

Effects of Dietary Supplementation with Mushroom or Vitamin D2-Enriched Mushroom Powders on Gastrointestinal Health Parameters in the Weaned Pig.

The objective of this study was to compare the molecular, physiological and microbial effects of mushroom powder (MP), vitamin D2 enriched mushroom powder (MPD2) and zinc oxide (ZnO) in pigs post-weaning. Pigs (four pigs/pen; 12 pens/treatment) were assigned to: (1) basal diet (control), (2) basal diet + ZnO, (3) basal diet + MP (2 g/kg feed) and (4) basal diet + MPD2 (2 g/kg feed). Zinc oxide supplementation improved the feed intake (p < 0.001); increased the caecal abundance of Lactobacillus (p < 0.05); increased the villus height (p < 0.05) in the duodenum, jejunum and ileum; increased the expression of chemokine interleukin 8 (CXCL8; p < 0.05); and decreased the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene interleukin 6 (IL6; p < 0.05), tumour necrosis factor (TNF; p < 0.05), nutrient transporters peptide transporter 1 (SLC15A1; p < 0.05) and fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP2; (p < 0.05) in the duodenum. Whereas dietary supplementation with MPD2 improved the gastrointestinal morphology (p < 0.05); increased the total volatile fatty acid concentrations (p < 0.05); increased the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine gene interleukin 10 (IL10; p < 0.05) and nutrient transporters SLC15A1 (p < 0.05), FABP2 (p < 0.05) and vitamin D receptor (VDR; p < 0.05); and reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokine gene IL6 (p < 0.05), it adversely affected average daily feed intake (ADFI; p < 0.001) and average daily gain (ADG; p < 0.05). Mushroom powder supplementation had a positive impact on gastrointestinal morphology (p < 0.05) and upregulated the expression of nutrient transporters SLC15A1 (p < 0.05) and FABP2 (p < 0.05) and tight junction claudin 1 (CLDN1) (p < 0.05) compared to the controls but had no effect on the expression of inflammatory markers (p > 0.05). Furthermore, MP reduced ADFI (p < 0.01); however, this did not negatively impact the ADG (p > 0.05). In conclusion, MP and MPD2 have limited use as commercial feed additives in replacing ZnO in pig diets as feed intake was reduced post-weaning.

Ethylene tri- and tetramerization: a steric parameter selectivity switch from X-ray crystallography and computational analysis.

A steric parameter (θN-sub) is introduced to describe the steric bulk at the nitrogen atom on a range of PNP ligands used in ethylene tri- and tetramerization. This parameter was calculated for the free ligands and different metal complexes thereof and compared to catalytic data. A specific tendency is observed for the value of θN-sub and 1-hexene selectivity, and a slight increase in 1-octene selectivity is found with increased bulkiness of the substituents on the nitrogen atom.

Effects of premature birth on the risk for alcoholism appear to be greater in males than females.

OBJECTIVE: A large Danish birth cohort was used to test the independent and joint effects of perinatal measures associated with premature birth as predictors of the development of alcoholism in male and female subjects. METHOD: Subjects were born at the Copenhagen University Hospital between 1959 and 1961 (N = 9,125). A comprehensive series of measures was obtained for each of the 8,109 surviving and eligible infants before birth, during birth, shortly after birth, and at 1 year. The adult alcoholism outcome was defined as any ICD-10 F10 diagnosis (Mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol use) or an equivalent ICD-8 diagnosis found in the Danish Psychiatric Central Research Register or the Municipal Alcohol Clinics of Copenhagen by 2007. RESULTS: Multiple perinatal markers of premature birth independently predicted the development of an alcoholism diagnosis in male (n = 310) but not female (n = 138) subjects. Logistic regression modeling with a global prematurity score, adjusted for social status, maternal smoking, and gender, indicated a significant association of prematurity score for males (p < .02), but not females (p = .51), on the risk of developing an alcohol use disorder. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that neurodevelopmental sequelae of premature birth are associated with gender-specific effects on the development of alcoholism in the male baby: small, premature, or growth-delayed male babies appear to be selectively vulnerable to alcoholic drinking years later. The findings implicate neurodevelopmental influences in alcoholism pathophysiology in males and suggest the possibility of distinct, gender-specific pathways in the etiology of severe problem drinking.