Prophylactic administration of a combined prebiotic and probiotic, or therapeutic administration of enrofloxacin, to reduce the incidence of bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis in broilers.

Bacteria entering the bloodstream via translocation from the gastrointestinal tract spread hematogenously and can trigger bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO) by infecting osteochondrotic microfractures in the epiphyseal-physeal cartilage of the proximal femora and tibiae. In experiment 1, broilers were fed control feed or the same feed containing BacPack 2X, which includes the prebiotic IMW50 (a mannan oligosaccharide beta-glucan yeast cell wall product) plus the probiotic Calsporin (Bacillus subtilis C-3102). Broilers reared on wire flooring consistently developed higher incidences of BCO than hatchmates reared on wood shavings litter (≥24 vs. ≤4%, respectively; P=0.001). Adding BacPack 2X to the feed on d 1 through 56 delayed the age of onset and reduced the cumulative incidence of BCO on wire flooring when compared with broilers fed the control feed (24.0 vs. 40.7%, respectively; P=0.003). In experiment 2, broilers reared on wire flooring received tap water on d 1 through 62 (control group) or therapeutic levels of the potent fluoroquinolone antimicrobial enrofloxacin in the water on d 35 through 54 (enrofloxacin group). During enrofloxacin administration, half as many birds developed BCO in the enrofloxacin group when compared with the control group (8.1 vs. 19.5%, respectively, on d 35 through 54; P=0.001), whereas both groups had similar BCO incidences subsequent to withdrawing enrofloxacin on d 55 through 62 (14.8 vs. 18.2% for the enrofloxacin vs. control groups; P=0.386). Cumulative lameness incidences for d 1 through 62 were higher for the control group than for the enrofloxacin group (39.0 vs. 25.8%, respectively; P=0.003). These results demonstrate that wire flooring imposes a rigorous challenge that leads to high incidences of BCO that can be difficult to suppress, even with therapeutic doses of enrofloxacin. Prophylactically adding BacPack 2X to the feed reduced the incidence of BCO lameness by a proportion similar to that achieved with enrofloxacin, indicating that probiotics potentially can provide effective alternatives to antibiotics for reducing BCO lameness attributable to bacterial translocation and hematogenous distribution.

Gas production in human ingesting a soybean flour derived from beans naturally low in oligosaccharides.

BACKGROUND: Ingestion of soy products may cause excessive intestinal gas. This gas results from colonic bacterial fermentation of the indigestible oligosaccharides raffinose and stachyose, which are present in high concentrations in legumes. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to compare gas production and gaseous symptoms in healthy volunteers after ingestion of 34 and 80 g soy flour made from either conventional soybeans or soybeans naturally low in indigestible oligosaccharides. DESIGN: In a double-blind, randomized, crossover protocol, breath hydrogen (an indicator of carbohydrate malabsorption), flatus frequency, and abdominal symptoms were assessed after subjects ingested the soy products and after 2 control meals (rice or lactose-hydrolyzed milk). RESULTS: The sum of breath-hydrogen concentrations for 8 h was significantly greater (P < 0.005) after 34 g conventional soy (60.4+/-9.4 ppm) than after low-oligosaccharide soy (34.3+/-8.1 ppm). Greater differences were observed with 80-g doses: 157.9+/-19.4 ppm after conventional soy and 50.8+/-6.8 ppm after low-oligosaccharide soy (P < 0.001). Flatus frequency (7.5+/-1.9 times/12 h) was significantly greater (P = 0.039) after ingestion of 80 g conventional soy than after the control, rice meal (3.2+/-0.8 times/12 h), whereas flatus frequency after the low-oligosaccharide soy meal (3.9+/-0.7 times/12 h) was comparable with that after the rice meal. There were no significant differences in the severity of other abdominal symptoms. CONCLUSION: Soy flour derived from low-oligosaccharide soybeans resulted in less gas production than that derived from conventional soybeans.

Nutritional value of a genetically improved high-lysine, high-oil corn for young pigs.

Two experiments were conducted to compare the nutritional adequacy of a genetically improved high-lysine, high-oil corn (HLHOC; .408% lysine, 6.21% fat, as-fed basis) and a high-oil corn (HOC; .289% lysine, 5.97% fat, as-fed basis) for young growing pigs. Experiment 1 used four non-littermate barrows (initially 20.0 kg BW) fitted with ileal T-cannulas in a crossover-designed digestion study. The .75% total lysine diets contained 8.5% casein and an equal amount of lysine (.25%) from the test corn. Apparent ileal digestibilities of amino acids, GE, DM, and CP were similar (P > .10) between diets. Apparent ileal lysine digestibilities were 65 and 71% for the HOC and HLHOC, respectively, assuming the lysine in casein to be 100% digestible. Experiment 2 used 100 barrows reared in a segregated early-weaning environment (initially 8.3 kg BW and 27 d of age) to evaluate five corn-soybean meal-based diets in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement with main effects being corn type and dietary lysine (.80 or 1.15% digestible lysine). The fifth diet consisted of the .80% digestible lysine HOC diet supplemented with .23% additional L-lysine x HCl (.975% digestible lysine) to verify that lysine was the limiting amino acid in the low-lysine diets. Increasing digestible lysine from .80 to 1.15% increased (P < .001) ADG and gain/feed (G/F) regardless of corn variety. Combined ADG and G/F were .347 kg and .641 and .443 kg and .790 for the .80 and 1.15% digestible lysine diets, respectively. Within lysine level, corn type did not affect ADG, ADFI, or G/F (P > .10). The results of these studies indicate that the lysine in HLHOC is as available as the lysine in HOC and that HLHOC can be used successfully in swine diets.