Drinking Water Supplemented with Acidifiers Improves the Growth Performance of Weaned Pigs and Potentially Regulates Antioxidant Capacity, Immunity, and Gastrointestinal Microbiota Diversity.

This study evaluated the potential effects of adding acidifiers to the drinking water on the growth performance, complete blood count, antioxidant indicators, and diversity of gastrointestinal microbiota for weaned pigs. A total of 400 weaned pigs were randomly divided into four treatments. Pigs were fed the same basal diet and given either water (no acidifier was added, control) or water plus blends of different formulas of acidifiers (acidifier A1, A2, or A3) for 35 days. On d 18 and 35 of the experimental period, 64 pigs (four pigs per pen) were randomly selected to collect blood for a CBC test (n = 128) and an antioxidant indicators test (n = 128); 24 pigs (six pigs per group) were randomly selected to collect fresh feces (n = 48) from the rectum for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Compared to the control, supplementing the drinking water with acidifiers improved the growth performance and survival rate of weaned pigs. Acidifier groups also increased serum catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) activities, while also displaying a decreased malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration compared to the control. The relative abundance of Firmicutes in the acidifier A1 group was greater than that in the control group (p < 0.05) on d 35; the relative abundance of Lactobacillus in the acidifier A1 group was greater than that in the control group (p < 0.05) on d 18 and 35. The microbial species Subdoligranulum or Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 had significantly positive correlations with ADG and ADFI or with serum antioxidant indicators, respectively. These findings suggest that supplementing the drinking water with an acidifier has a potential as an antioxidant, which was reflected in the improvement of growth performance, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal flora.

Bis(2,2'-bipyridine)-1κN,N';3κN,N'-hexa-µ-methacrylato-1:2κO:O';2:3κO:O'-(nitrato-2κO,O')-1,3-dicobalt(II)-2-terbium(III).

In the title trinuclear cobalt-terbium complex, [Co(2)Tb(C(4)H(5)O(2))(6)(NO(3))(C(10)H(8)N(2))(2)], the central Tb(III) and each of the Co(II) ions are bridged by three carboxyl-ate groups of the methacrylate anions. The Tb(III) cation is coordinated by six O atoms from six methacrylate anions and two O atoms from a chelating nitrate anion in a distorted square-anti-prismatic geometry. Each Co(II) ion is coordinated by three O atoms from three methyl-acrylate anions and two N atoms of a 2,2'-bypiridine ligand in a distorted square-pyramidal geometry. In the crystal structure, π-π stacking between the pyridine rings [centroid-centroid distances = 3.682 (8) and 3.760 (8) Å] is observed and weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O hydrogen bonding is also present.