Influence of phytogenic feed additive on Lawsonia intracellularis infection in pigs.
Prev Vet Med
; 151: 46-51, 2018 Mar 01.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-29496105
ABSTRACT
Lawsonia intracellularis is known to cause proliferative enteropathy (PE), one of the economically most important swine diseases with global distribution. Not unlike other enteric diseases, PE is a frequent indication for antibiotic therapy. However, their unjustified use leads to an emerging problem - antimicrobial resistance. Thus, the aim of this research was to assess if a phytogenic additive may replace antibiotics in the control of PE in 144 weaned piglets (72 treated and 72 controls) naturally infected with L. intracellularis. The quantity of L. intracellularis faecal shedding was monitored by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay in faecal samples on day 0, 14 and 28, whilst the level of the ileum damage was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay performed on gut sections. Real-time PCR assay revealed that cycle-threshold (Ct) values in the treatment group increased significantly over time and were higher than in the control. These results indicate that the use of the phytogenic additive decreases the faecal excretion of L. intracellularis both throughout the experiment and in comparison to the control. The expression of the L. intracellularis antigen in IHC assay was lower in treated animals, implying that the additive leads to the decrease in the pathogen quantity in the ileum. Significantly higher feed conversion ratio was recorded in the treatment group. The results indicate that the phytogenic additive may be beneficial in the control of PE, but additional research is necessary to assess its use in various pig categories and define the optimum concentrations.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Swine Diseases
/
Dietary Supplements
/
Lawsonia Bacteria
/
Desulfovibrionaceae Infections
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
En
Journal:
Prev Vet Med
Year:
2018
Document type:
Article