Effects of spray-dried porcine plasma on growth performance, immune response, total antioxidant capacity, and gut morphology of nursery pigs.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) on growth performance, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and gut morphology of nursery pigs. In Exp. 1, 96 weaned pigs (Nebraska female × Danbred sire; 20 ± 1 d of age; initial BW = 6.06 ± 0.02 kg) were assigned to 16 pens and randomly allotted to the control (CTL; no SDPP) or the CTL + SDPP treatment in 2 phases (phase 1: d 0 to 14, 5% SDPP; phase 2: d 14 to 28, 2.5% SDPP). Blood samples were collected on d 0 and weekly thereafter to quantify IgG, IgA, and total antioxidant capacity. On d 14, pigs (n = 16; 8 pigs/treatment) were selected and euthanized for small intestine tissue and alveolar macrophage collection. On d 7, pigs fed SDPP had greater ADG, ADFI (P = 0.001), and G:F (P = 0.019) compared with CTL pigs. On d 28, pigs fed SDPP had greater BW (P = 0.024) and tended to have greater ADG (P = 0.074) and ADFI (P = 0.062) compared with CTL pigs. There were no differences between treatments for serum IgG, IgA, and total antioxidant capacity. On d 14, greater villus height (P = 0.011) and villus:crypt (P = 0.008) were observed in duodenal tissue sections obtained from SDPP-fed pigs compared with CTL pigs. To evaluate effects of SDPP on immune biomarkers, alveolar macrophages collected from 3 pigs/treatment on d 14 were cultured in vitro and challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS; 10 ng/mL). Therefore, 4 treatments included 1) CTL diet with no LPS, 2) CTL diet with LPS (CTL+), 3) SDPP diet with no LPS, and 4) SDPP diet with LPS. There were no diet effects on tumor necrosis factor-α gene expression or secretion by alveolar macrophages. For IL-10 gene expression, a diet × LPS interaction (P = 0.009) was observed where CTL+ had greater (P < 0.05) IL-10 mRNA abundance compared with other treatments. A second experiment was conducted to evaluate the in vitro effects of porcine plasma using model porcine jejunal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2). The treatments applied to the IPEC-J2 cells were 1) CTL, 2) CTL + 10% porcine plasma, 3) CTL + 5% porcine plasma, 4) CTL + 2.5% porcine plasma, or 5) CTL + 5% fetal bovine serum. The addition of porcine plasma increased (P < 0.001) proliferation of IPEC-J2 cells at 24 and 48 h following exposure to the respective treatments. In conclusion, dietary SDPP increased growth performance of nursery pigs during the first week postweaning and provide benefits to gut morphology possibly via increased proliferation of enterocytes.

Effect of dam parity on litter performance, transfer of passive immunity, and progeny microbial ecology.

Litter performance and progeny health status may be decreased in progeny derived from primiparous sows but improve with increasing parity. The objective was to evaluate litter performance, the production and passive transfer of Ig, and fecal microbial populations in progeny derived from first parity (P1) compared with fourth parity (P4) dams. Litter performance was recorded for P1 (n = 19) and P4 (n = 24) dams including number of pigs/litter (total born, born live, stillbirths, mummified fetuses, prewean mortality, and pigs weaned) and average litter and piglet BW at birth (d 0), d 7, d 14, and at weaning (average d 19). Blood samples were collected from all dams on d 90 and 114 of gestation and d 0 of lactation. Colostrum and milk samples were collected from each dam on d 0, 7, and 14 of lactation for quantification of IgG and IgA. Blood and fecal samples were collected from each litter (n = 6 pigs/litter) on d 1, 7, and 14 after parturition. Circulating IgG and IgA concentrations were quantified in all blood samples. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to characterize similarity and diversity of fecal microbes among progeny. Progeny of P1 dams had decreased average litter BW at d 7 (25.7 vs. 30.0 kg; P < 0.03) and decreased average piglet BW throughout the experiment (d 0, 7, 14, and 19; P < 0.001) compared with P4 progeny. No parity × day interactions were observed with respect to immunoglobulin or microbial analyses. Concentrations of IgA tended to be greater (P = 0.09) in samples of colostrum and milk obtained from P4 compared with P1 dams. Serum IgG concentrations were greater (P < 0.02) in P4 progeny compared with P1 progeny. Results of DGGE revealed that P1 progeny had increased (P < 0.001) microbial similarity on d 7 and decreased (P < 0.03) microbial similarity on d 14 compared with P4 progeny. Progeny of P1 dams tended (P = 0.07) to have a greater Shannon's diversity index compared with P4 progeny on d 1, and P1 progeny had a greater (P < 0.03) Shannon's diversity index compared with P4 progeny on d 7. Litter performance, passive transfer of immunity, and progeny microbial ecology were affected by dam parity.