Evaluation of Probiotics as an Alternative to Antibiotic on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Occurrence of Diarrhea and Immune Response in Weaning Pigs

摘要

This study was conducted to determine the effects of probiotics supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, occurrence of diarrhea and immune response in weaning pigs. Treatments were 1) NC (basal diet), 2) PC (basal diet + 0.12% avilamycin) and 3) A (basal diet + 0.2% Aspergillus oryzae), 4) B (basal diet + 0.2% Lactobacillus casei), 5) C (basal diet + 0.2% Bacillus subtilis), 6) D (basal diet + 0.2% Lactobacillus crispatus). A total of 120 pigs (7.16 +/- 0.01 kg average body weight, weaned at 23 3 days of age) were assigned to 6 treatments, 5 replicates and 4 pigs per pen in a randomized complete block(RCB) design. During the whole experimental period, body weight(P<0.01), average daily gain (ADG; P<0.01), and average daily feed intake (ADFI; P<0.05) of treatment PC were higher than other treatments. However, the probiotics treatments tended to increase ADG and G:F ratio compared to treatment NC. The G:F ratio in treatment A(Aspergillus oryzae) was similar to treatment PC during the whole experimental period(P<0.05). The supplementation of probiotics in the diet of weaning pig did not change nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein, crude fat and ash) and nitrogen retention of weaning pigs. In blood urea nitrogen(BUN) concentration, treatment B had lower value than other treatments at 2 and 4 weeks(P<0.05). Treatments PC and C tended to decrease diarrhea score than other treatments(P=0.18). At 3h after lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection, treatments NC and PC had higher count of CD4(+) T-cells than probiotics treatments, and treatment C showed the lowest value(P<0.01). There were no differences on count of CD8(+) T-cells and CD4+:CD8+ ratio among all treatments(P>0.10). These results suggest that the dietary probiotics are likely able to improve the growth performance, occurrence of diarrhea and immune response although they do not have similar effects like antibiotics in weaning pigs.