Xu Qinglei, Cheng Meng, Jiang Rong, Zhao Xianle, Zhu Jianjin, Liu Mingzheng, Chao Xiaohuan, Zhang Chunlei, Zhou Bo
College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing, China.
Wuxi Sanzhi Bio-Tech Co., Ltd., Wuxi, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2022 Aug 22;9:971647. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2022.971647. eCollection 2022.
Weaning stress decreases the growth performance of piglets and is one of the main concerns of pig industries. Traditional Chinese herbal medicines have been used to reduce the adverse effects of weaning stress as both nutritional supplements and antibiotic substitutes. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a Chinese herbal mixture (Kangtaile, which contained Paeonia lactiflora, licorice, dandelion, and tea polyphenols) on the growth performances, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal microbiota of weaned pigs. A total of 400 weaned pigs [Duroc × (Landrace × Yorkshire)] were randomly allocated into one of four treatments: the CON group, fed with basic diet; the HM1 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 0.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet; the HM2 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 g herbal mixture/kg diet; or the HM3 group, fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.5 g herbal mixture/kg diet. The results revealed that dietary supplementation with the herbal mixture for 28 days improved average daily gain and feed conversion ratio, while decreased the diarrhea rate of weaned pigs. Moreover, dietary supple-mentation with the herbal mixture improved the antioxidant capacity through increasing the activity of catalase (CAT) and the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) level, while decreasing the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum. Pigs supplemented with herbal mixture presented an increased serum immunoglobulin (Ig)M level on day 14 compared with control pigs. The herbal mixture altered the composition of intestinal microbiota by influencing the relative abundances of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes at the phylum level. The relative abundances of the Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes were significantly related to the body weight gain of pigs. In conclusion, supplementation of herbal mixture to the diet improved growth performance, immunity, and antioxidant capacity and modified the composition of intestinal microbiota in weaning pigs. This study provided new insights into the nutritional regulation effects of the herbal mixtures on weaned pigs.
断奶应激会降低仔猪的生长性能，是养猪业主要关注的问题之一。传统中草药已被用作营养补充剂和抗生素替代品，以减轻断奶应激的不良影响。本研究旨在评估一种中药混合物（康泰乐，含有白芍、甘草、蒲公英和茶多酚）对断奶仔猪生长性能、免疫反应、抗氧化能力和肠道微生物群的影响。总共400头断奶仔猪[杜洛克×（长白×大白）]被随机分为四个处理组之一：对照组，饲喂基础日粮；HM1组，饲喂添加0.5 g/kg日粮中药混合物的基础日粮；HM2组，饲喂添加1.0 g/kg日粮中药混合物的基础日粮；或HM3组，饲喂添加1.5 g/kg日粮中药混合物的基础日粮。结果表明，日粮中添加该中药混合物28天可提高平均日增重和饲料转化率，同时降低断奶仔猪的腹泻率。此外，日粮中添加该中药混合物可通过提高过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性和总抗氧化能力（T-AOC）水平来提高抗氧化能力，同时降低血清中丙二醛（MDA）的浓度。与对照猪相比，添加中药混合物的猪在第14天血清免疫球蛋白（Ig）M水平升高。该中药混合物通过影响门水平上厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门的相对丰度改变了肠道微生物群的组成。厚壁菌门和拟杆菌门的相对丰度与猪的体重增加显著相关。总之，日粮中添加中药混合物可提高断奶仔猪的生长性能、免疫力和抗氧化能力，并改变肠道微生物群的组成。本研究为中药混合物对断奶仔猪的营养调控作用提供了新的见解。
