Evans Danica, Bowring Bethany, Collins Alison, Clarke Julie, Kim Jae-Cheol, Mansfield Josie, Pluske John R
School of Agricultural Sciences, College of Environmental and Life Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia 6150, Australia.
Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute, New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Menangle, New South Wales 2568, Australia.
J Anim Sci. 2025 Jan 4;103. doi: 10.1093/jas/skaf181.
Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) remains a major problem for some pork producers, exacerbated by restrictions or bans on the use of antimicrobial compounds. Acetylated high-amylose maize starch (HAMSA) delivers acetate to the large bowel and may reduce the severity of enteric infections, including those caused by Escherichia coli (E. coli). This study examined the effects of HAMSA and zinc oxide (ZnO) supplementation on PWD and performance in pigs experimentally inoculated with an F4 enterotoxigenic strain of E. coli (F4-ETEC). Seventy-two weaned pigs were divided into three dietary groups: 1) control (no antimicrobial compounds); 2) control plus 3,000 mg ZnO/kg; and 3) control plus 50 g HAMSA/kg. Pigs commenced diets on the day of weaning, were inoculated with an F4-ETEC strain on days 5 and 6, and were fed diets ad libitum for 21 days. The incidence of PWD (χ2 = 0.035) and the diarrhea index (P = 0.032) were both lowest, commensurate with a lower plasma haptoglobin concentration (P = 0.010), in pigs fed ZnO than pigs fed other diets, despite there being a trend for an interaction (P = 0.088) in pigs fed HAMSA to have a lower F4 E. coli:total E. coli ratio on d 11 after weaning. Pigs fed ZnO and HAMSA grew faster (P = 0.009) and ate more (P = 0.048) in week 3 than control pigs. Overall, there was a trend (P = 0.065) for pigs fed the ZnO diet or HAMSA diet to eat ~ 20% more than those fed the control diet that resulted in a trend (P = 0.064) for ZnO- and HAMSA-fed pigs to weigh ~ 10% more than control-fed pigs at the end of the study. The HAMSA-fed pigs had a lower (P = 0.044) FCR in week 3, and overall (P = 0.003). Pigs fed HAMSA did not show any increase (P > 0.05) in their fecal short-chain fatty acid or acetate concentrations. The significant effect of HAMSA on FCR justifies further investigation as this may improve production efficiency in the post-weaning period following an enteric F4-ETEC infection.
断奶后腹泻（PWD）对一些猪肉生产商来说仍然是一个主要问题，抗菌化合物使用限制或禁令使其问题更加严重。乙酰化高直链玉米淀粉（HAMSA）可将乙酸盐输送至大肠，并可能减轻肠道感染的严重程度，包括由大肠杆菌（E. coli）引起的感染。本研究检测了补充HAMSA和氧化锌（ZnO）对经实验接种F4产肠毒素大肠杆菌菌株（F4-ETEC）的仔猪PWD和生产性能的影响。72头断奶仔猪被分为三个日粮组：1）对照组（不添加抗菌化合物）；2）对照组+3000 mg ZnO/kg；3）对照组+50 g HAMSA/kg。仔猪在断奶当天开始采食日粮，在第5天和第6天接种F4-ETEC菌株，并随意采食日粮21天。与采食其他日粮的仔猪相比，采食ZnO的仔猪的PWD发病率（χ2 = 0.035）和腹泻指数（P = 0.032）均最低，且血浆触珠蛋白浓度较低（P = 0.010），尽管采食HAMSA的仔猪在断奶后第11天的F4大肠杆菌：总大肠杆菌比例有降低趋势（P = 0.088）。采食ZnO和HAMSA的仔猪在第3周比对照组仔猪生长更快（P = 0.009）且采食量更多（P = 0.048）。总体而言，采食ZnO日粮或HAMSA日粮的仔猪比采食对照日粮的仔猪采食量高出约20%，这一趋势（P = 0.065）导致在研究结束时，采食ZnO和HAMSA的仔猪体重比采食对照日粮的仔猪高出约10%，这一趋势（P = 0.064）。采食HAMSA的仔猪在第3周以及总体上的饲料转化率（FCR）较低（P = 0.044；P = 0.003）。采食HAMSA的仔猪粪便短链脂肪酸或乙酸盐浓度未出现任何升高（P>0.05）。HAMSA对FCR的显著影响值得进一步研究，因为这可能提高肠道F4-ETEC感染后断奶期的生产效率。
