Study On The Effect Of Chitosan Oligosaccharide Application In Lactating Sows And Weaned Piglets

Lactational performance of sows has profound influence on growth performance and health status of both pre-and post-weaning piglets,paying close attention to piglets’growth since the suckling period has attracted considerable interest.Chitosan oligosaccharide(COS)exhibits many health-beneficial nutraceutical effects such as growth promoter,immunity regulator,gut microflora balancer.However,studies on whether the beneficial effect could inprove performance and health status of lactating sows is limited,and the influence of maternal COS supplementation on piglet performance and health status beyond the suckling period is unknown.The objective of the present study was to examine the effect of maternal and/or post-weaning piglet COS dietary on performance and health status of sows and post-weaning piglet.Two experiments were involved in this study:Experiment 1 Effect of dietary supplementation with COS on performance and health status of lactating sows.The aim of this trail is to evaluate the effect of dietary COS supplementation on performance,immunity and antioxidant capacity of lactating sows.Twenty-four Yorkshire multiparous sows were randomly allotted into two groups and fed either a control diet(CON,n = 12)or a control diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg COS(COS,n = 12),piglets were cross-fostered within treatments shortly after birth to standardize litter size to 10 pigs,and piglets had no access to creep feed until day 22 of lactation and weaned at d 28 after farrowing.Blood and milk samples were collected on d 0,7,14,21 of lactation.The results were as follows:COS intervention increased milk yield of sows,litter weight and litter ADG during d 0～21 of lactation(P<0.05);colostrum solid-non-fat and IgM,milk IgG on d 7,milk fat and IgA on d 14,milk lactose and solid-non-fat on d 21 were increased by COS intervention(P<0.05),colostrum protein,milk fat on d 7 and 21,milk IgG on d 0,14 and 21 showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10);serum IgA,IgM,IL-10 on d 0 were increased by COS intervention(P<0.05),serum IgG and IL-6 on d 0,serum IgG and IL-1 on d 7,serum IgM on d 21 showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10);serum CAT activities on d 0,7 and 14,serum T-AOC on d 0 and 21 were increased by COS intervention,serum MDA on d 0 and 7 were decreased significantly(P<0.05);serum GSH-Px activity on d 0 and T-AOC on d 14 showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10).These results shouwed that COS improved immunity and antioxidant capacity of lactating sows,but also milk yield and milk quality,which benefited growth of suckling piglets.Experiment 2 Effect of maternal and/or weaned piglet dietary supplementation with COS on performance and health status of weaned piglets.This trail was conducted to evaluate the effect of maternal and/or post-weaning piglet COS dietary on growth performance,immunity,antioxidant capacity and gut health of weaned piglets.Sixteen weaned piglets were selected in Exp.1 treatmens respectively,the experiment was designed as a 2×2 factorial arrangement(2 types of sow diet:basal diet and basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg COS;2 types of post-weaning piglet diet:basal diet and basal diet supplemented with 100 mg/kg COS)comprising 4 dietary treatments with 8 replicates per treatment and 1 piglet per replicate.The trail was lasted for 28 d,and digestive trail was carried out from d 24 to 27.All piglets were slaughted for samples on d 28 after weighting and blood sampling.The results were as follows:maternal COS supplementation increased ADFI and ADG of piglets(P<0.05),serum INS showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation increased ADG,serum INS and IGF-I of piglets(P<0.05),ADFI showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10),there is a tendencial interaction between maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation on serum INS of piglets(P<0.10);maternal COS supplementation enhanced the apparent digestibilities of GE,CF and Ash of piglets(P<0.05),that of P showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation enhanced the apparent digestibilities of GE,DM,CP,CF,Ash,Ca and P of piglets(P<0.05),there arc interactions between maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation on that of GE(P<0.05)and CF(P<0.10)of piglets;maternal COS supplementation increased piglet serum IL-6,TNF-α,IgA and CAT activity(P<0.05),serum IgM showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation increased piglet serum IL-6,TNF-α,IgA,IgM,T-AOC and CAT activity(P<0.05),decreased scrum MDA(P<0.05),scrum IL-10 showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10);maternal COS supplementation increased piglet villus height of duodenum(P<0.05),VH/CD of duodenum showed a tendency of increasing(P<0.10),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation increased piglet villus height of duodenum and ileum,the mRNA expression of CLDN1 in duodenum,that of CLDN1 and OCLN in jejunum(P<0.05),the VH/CD of jejunum and ileum,the mRNA expression of ZO-1 in jejunum showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10);maternal COS supplementation increased piglet sIgA and sucrase activity in ileum(P<0.05),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation increased piglet intestinal slgA,lactase and sucrase activities,and the mRNA expression of SGLT1 in jejunum(P<0.05),that of SGLT1 in duodenum and that of GLUT2 in jejunum showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10),there is an interaction between maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation on sucrase activity in ileum of piglet(P<0.05);maternal COS supplementation decreased the pH of cecum and colon content(P<0.05),that of jejunum content showed a tendency of decreasing(P<0.10),post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation decreased the pH of colon content,total bacteria and Escherichia coli in caecum and colon,increased Bifidobacterium in ileum(P<0.05),the pH of jejunum,ileum and cecum content showed tendencies of decreasing(P<0.10),Bifidobacterium in cecum and colon showed tendencies of increasing(P<0.10),there are interactions between maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation on the pH of cecum and colon content(P<0.05).These results shouwed that maternal or post-weaning piglet dietary COS supplementation improved piglet immunity and antioxidant capacity,benefited intestinal development and balance of gut microflora,which improved growth performance of piglets;piglets exhibited the best performance when COS was added to both maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary.Collectively,dietary COS supplementation could benefit performance and health status of both lactating sows and post-weaning piglets,piglets harvested best performance and health status when COS was added to both maternal and post-weaning piglet dietary.