| The aims of the study were to investigate the effect of the Illicium verum and Eucommia leaf extract on production performance,antioxidant abilities and immunity in weaned piglets.Through the feeding experiment,the production performance,antioxidant ability,the blood physiological and biochemical indexes,intestinal health and related molecular markers is analyzed.These results provide the theoretical basis for the application of Illicium verum and Eucommia leaf extract in pig production and replacement of antibiotics.The factorial experimental design of 2×4 was adopted in this experiment.A total of 96 healthy weaned piglets(48 Licha black piglets and 48 Duroc × Large White × Yorkshire piglets,respectively)were randomly allocated into 4 treatments with three replicates per treatments and 8 piglets per replicate(4 Licha black piglets and 4 Duroc × Large White × Yorkshire piglets,respectively).Control was basal diet,and experimental treatments were basal diets supplemented with Illicium verum extract(500 mg/kg),Eucommia leaf extract(250 mg/kg)and aureomycin(50 mg/kg),respectively.Trial lasted for 42 days after 7 days adaptation.The results showed as follows: compared with control,Illicium verum extract had significantly increased average daily gain(ADG),total protein(TP),white blood cell(WBC),activity of superoxide dismutase(SOD)in the serum and muscle,activity of glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)in the serum and liver,relative mRNA expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2(Nrf2)in the liver and jejunum of weaned piglets,however the serum urea nitrogen(SUN),E-coli in cecum,malondialdehyde(MDA)in muscle,relative mRNA expression of tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α)in the liver and jejunum were significantly decreased.The Eucommia leaf extract had significantly increased ADG,platelet count(PLT),lymphocyte absolute value(LYN),high density lipoprotein(HDL),lymphocyte proliferation rate(LPR),immunoglobin M(IgM),immunoglobin G(IgG),Lactobacillus in cecum,SOD in the serum,GSH-Px in the liver and the Nrf2 in the liver and jejunum of weaned piglets,however the feed to gain ratio(F/G),alanine transaminase(ALT),SUN,MDA in liver,relative mRNA expression of TNF-α in the liver and jejunum were significantly decreased.Compared with antibiotic,Illicium verum extract had significantly increased WBC,SOD and GSH-Px in the serum,SOD in muscle and the Nrf2 in the liver and jejunum of weaned piglets,however,PLT,MDA in muscle,relative mRNA expression of TNF-α in the liver were significantly decreased.The Eucommia leaf extract had significantly increased HDL,LYN,IgG,Lactobacillus in cecum,SOD in the serum,relative mRNA expression of Nrf2 in jejunum of weaned piglets of piglets,however,E-coli in cecum,MDA in muscle and liver,relative mRNA expression of TNF-α in the liver were significantly decreased.The Duroc × Large White× Yorkshire(DLY)and Licha black piglets(LBP)contrast test results showed that ADG,the apparent digestibility of protein(CP)and net protein utilization(NPU),the content of aspartate transaminase(AST),ALT and HDL,the concentration of GSH-Px in serum and muscle of DLY were significantly higher than LBP,howeverm the F/G,the content of SUN、WBC、HGB、PLT and Ig G of DLY were significantly lower than LBP.In conclusion,the Illicium verum and Eucommia leaf extract in this study increased the production performance of piglets,and the antioxidant capacity and immunity of piglets were also improved,and it can be used as a substitute for chlortetracycline.The production performance of DLY was significantly higher than LBP,however,no significant advantages were observed in the antioxidant ability and immunity between DLY and LBP.Its intrinsic mechanisms need to be confirmed further by the molecular biology and cytology. |
