Effects of Mink-Origin on Growth Performance, Antioxidant Capacity, Immunity, and Intestinal Microbiota of Growing Male Minks.

The purpose of this experiment was to explore the effects of dietary (EF) on the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and intestinal microbiota of growing male minks. A total of 60 male Regal White minks at 12 weeks of age were randomly assigned to two groups, each with 15 replicates of two minks per replicate. The minks in two groups were fed the basal diets and the basal diets with viable (more than 10 cfu/kg of diet), respectively. Compared with the minks in control, minks had heavier body weight (BW) at week 4 and week 8 of the study ( < 0.05), greater average daily gain (ADG), and a lower feed/gain ratio (F/G) of male minks during the initial 4 weeks and the entire 8-week study period ( < 0.05). Furthermore, increased the apparent digestibility of crude protein (CP) and dry matter (DM) compared to the control ( < 0.05). Moreover, enhanced the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) contents ( < 0.05). The results also confirmed that increased the levels of serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and the concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A (SIgA) in the jejunal mucosa while decreasing the interleukin-8 (IL-8) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) levels in the jejunal mucosa ( < 0.05). Intestinal microbiota analysis revealed that increased the species numbers at the OUT level. Compared with the control, had significant effects on the relative abundance of , , and ( < 0.05). The results showed that could improve the growth performance, increase the antioxidant capacity, improve the immunity of growing male minks, and also modulate the gut microbiota.