| Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) is associated with high mortality and reduced performance, and is a major cause of economic loss in the swine industry. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) plays an important role in neonatal and post-weaning diarrhea of piglets. Antibiotics are usually added to the feed of weaned pigs to prevent PWD. With the ban of antibiotics as feed additives in Europe, more and more research focuses on developing effective additives as alternatives to antibiotics. This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of an antibiotic ( PC), a direct fed microbial (DFM), spray-dried porcine plasma (PP), PP + DFM, and PP + a combination of these non-antibiotic additives (specialized porcine powder, organic acids, a sweetener, and DFM) (PP + Blend) on pig performance as well as microbial, immunological and metabolic parameters in an ETEC (K88+) piglet infectious model. No dietary effects on pig performance in E. coli K88+ disease challenge model. The fecal score of pigs fed DFM diet was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those fed the NC, PP and PP + DFM diet and had no difference with PC diet at 22 hour after infection. Villous height in the duodenum of pigs fed the PP was greater (P < 0.05) than that of pigs fed the NC diet. On day 14, a greater IFN-gamma (P < 0.05) concentration was observed in pigs fed the PP + blend diet compared with those fed the PC and PP + DFM diet. In conclusion, the DFM has potential to reduce scouring in E. coli K88+ disease challenge model for weaned pigs. However more research need to be done about the effect of this probiotic alone or combined with other additives on performance of post-weaned piglets. No dietary effects were observed on pig performance in E. coli K88+ disease challenge model. SDPP improved gut structure, especially villous height, in E. coli K88 + disease challenge model for weaned pigs. Combination of SDPP and DFM decreased the inflammatory responses of weaned piglets to some extent in an E. coli K88+ disease challenge model. However, more detailed studies need to be conducted in adaptive and cellular immunity of the digestive tract. |
