Effects Of Palygorskite Clay On Production Performance And Immune Function Of Weaned Piglets

The experiment was conducted to study the effect of different treatments of palygorskite on production performance and immune function of weaned piglets. The study includes three parts and the results are presented as follows:Trial1:This experiment was conducted to compare the effects of different treatments on the physical properties of palygorskite by studying the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and infrared spectrum analysis, observeing the scanning electron microscope (SEM) of palygorskite, measuring the BET surface area and pore diameter of original palygorskite (OP), themal modified palygorskite (TMP) and themal modified superfine palygorskite (TMSP). The results showed that:the crystal structure of palygorskite was not affected by thermal modification or thermal modification after superfine grinding treatment. The BET surface area of TMP and TMSP was increased by20.12%and53.96%compared with OP, the BET surface area of TMSP raised by28.17%compared with TMP. The pore diameter of TMP did not change, but the pore diameter of TMSP was decreased by24.41%compared with OP.Trial2:This experiment was conducted to study the effect of palygorskite on performance, serum biochemical indexes, immune indexes and microflora in feces of weaned piglets. A total of8030-day-old weaned piglets were randomly divided into four groups with4replicates of5piglets each, and fed a basal diet and the same diet supplemented with2%OP, TMP or TMSP for21days. The results showed that compared with the control group, OP, TMP and TMSP decreased FCR of piglets by4.81%(P>0.05),12.83%(P<0.05),16.03%(P<0.05); and increased the average daily gain to a certain extent (P>0.05); the diarrhea rate and diarrhea index of piglets in the TMP and TMSP group decreased significantly (P<0.05), OP group also showed a decreasing trend (P>0.05); the three palygorskites decreased the total protein content in serum of piglets, the serum albumin concentration was also reduced by1.26%(P>0.05) by OP treatment, while TMP and TMSP supplementation increased serum albumin concentration by7.27%(P>0.05),5.11%(P>0.05). OP, TMP and TMSP supplementation promoted the A/G ratio by15.89% (P>0.05),31.79%(P>0.05) and52.98%(P<0.05); the blood glucose decreased significantly (P<0.05) by OP supplementation but reduced by TMP or TMSP treatments. Compared with the control group, the content of Mg in serum of piglets in the OP and TMP group increased by21.78%(P<0.05),21.99%(P<0.05) respectively; the IgG content in the serum of OP, TMP and TMSP group were decreased by42.86%(P<0.05),46.53%(P<0.05) and49.45%(P<0.05); the content of Lactobacillus was increased by palygorskite treatments (P>0.05), the content of Escherichia coli increased by6.50%in TMSP group (P>0.05) and decreased by5.81%(P>0.05) and3.87%(P>0.05) in OP and TMP group compared with control group, and the reduction reached the significant level compared with TMSP group.Trial3:The aim of this experiment was to study the effects of palygorskite clay on antioxidant and immune function of serum in weaned piglets. Treatments were the same as in Trial2. The results showed that OP, TMP and TMSP increased T-AOC by22.96%(P>0.05),47.48%(P<0.05) and39.62%(P<0.05) compared with the control group, and decreased MDA content in serum by24.07%(P<0.05),28.24%(P<0.05) and14.92%(P>0.05). The SOD activity in TMP and TMSP group rised significantly (P<0.05), the OP group also had a rising trend (P>0.05). OP, TMP and TMSP treatments increased serum NO content by116.69%(P<0.01),38.61%(P<0.05) and55.69%(P<0.05), and OP group had a higher NO content than the other two palygorskite groups; the serum TNOS content in OP, TMP and TMSP group was increased by60.89%(P<0.05),31.62%(P>0.05) and47.68%(P<0.05), and increased the serum iNOS content by63.38%(P<0.05),24.62%(P>0.05) and41.29%(P<0.05). The serum lysozyme contents in three palygorskite groups also had a rising trend (P>0.05).