Weaning involves a sudden change of diet and environment, so it is certainly one of the most distressing stages in a piglet’s life. A common problem after weaning is gastrointestinal disorders characterized by diarrhea associated with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (E. coli) proliferation (Rhouma et al., 2017). The Advanced Digestion Enhancing Protein Plus Technology (ADEPPTTM) is a newly developed product, consisting of a natural protein molecule that has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties associated with iron-binding polypeptides and non-starch polysaccharides (NSP). Iron-binding proteins such as lactoferrin and ovotransferrin are known to inhibit growth and proliferation of pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella that cause postweaning diarrhea in pigs (Dierick et al., 2020). Also, the NSP such as mannan, fructan, chitosan, etc. are indigestible in the small intestine but fermented by beneficial bacteria in the large intestine resulting in production of short chain fatty acids as energy sources and improvement in gut microflora (Hardy et al., 2013). With these potential effects, we hypothesized that supplementation of ADEPPTTM to nursery diets could reduce the occurrence of postweaning diarrhea and enhance postweaning growth performance of pigs. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of ADEPPTTM supplementation on growth performance and fecal score of pigs with or without diarrhea after weaning.
All procedures used in this study were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of University of Wisconsin-River Falls (Protocol #18-19-10).
The experiment was conducted in the nursery facility at Mann Valley Farm of University of Wisconsin-River Falls (WI, USA).
At weaning, a total of 54 pigs [Yorkshire × Duroc, Yorkshire × Yorkshire; initial body weight (BW): 7.42±0.52 kg] were assigned to3treatments based on BW, sex and breed in a randomized complete block design. Each treatment had 3 replicates with 6 pigs per pen (3 barrows and 3 gilts) for a 28-d feeding trial. Treatments were 1) Corn-soybean meal-based basal diet without ADEPPTTM supplementation, 2) Basal diet + 0.5% ADEPPTTM supplementation, and 3) Basal diet + 1.0% ADEPPTTM supplementation. The ADEPPTTM is composed of dried egg protein containing iron-binding polypeptides and complex polysaccharides, a patent-pending and proprietary product of Vets Plus, Inc. (Menomonie, WI, USA). The pigs were housed in raised-deck nursery pens (1.32 × 1.63 m2) with plastic flooring in an environmentally-controlled nursery facility with free access to water.
In the first week of the study (d 3-5 postweaning), when a pig in each pen showed signs of diarrhea, it was removed (fecal score≥3) and housed in a separate pen where pigs from the same treatment were housed together. After removal from the feeding pen, each diarrheic pig was treated for 3 consecutive days with a 100-ml solution of electrolytes (Vets Plus, Inc., Menomonie, WI, USA) and ADEPPTTM by drenching in order to evaluate the potential effect of dietary ADEPPTTM for postweaning diarrhea. The common solution was used to exclude any potential bias associated with this treatment among the diarrheic pigs. In order to mix the solution, electrolyte solution was first prepared by adding 100 g of electrolytes containing 3.4% glycine, 0.4% calcium, 0.2% phosphorus, 3.0% salt, 4.4% sodium, and 1.3% potassium into 1 L warm water. Then 1 g ADEPPTTM product was added into 100 ml electrolyte solution and thoroughly mixed by gentle shaking. The solution prepared was immediately used to drench the diarrheic pigs. The diarrheic pigs received the same treatment diet as they consumed in the feeding trial pen with free access to feed and water. The experimental diets for Phase 1 were fed to the diarrheic pigs based on the treatments after the removal from the pen until the end of Phase 1 (d 14 of experiment), and then the experimental diets for Phase 2 were fed to the diarrheic pigs during the entire Phase 2 period for 14 days (d 15 - 28 postweaning).
Corn-soybean meal-based diets were fed to pigs ad libitum throughout the entire experimental period for 28 days postweaning with 2 phases (Phase 1: d 0-14 postweaning, and Phase 2: d 15-28 postweaning). All essential nutrients in the experimental diets met or exceeded the NRC (2012) requirement estimates (Table 1).
The ADEPPTTM product was supplemented in the diets at the assigned levels by replacing corn starch. For mixing experimental diets, the summit diet mixing concept was applied wherein a single batch of the basal diet was mixed without corn starch to prevent differences in non-treatment components of the diets. Then, the basal diet was divided into 2 fractions. One faction was mixed with additional 1% corn starch for the 0% ADEPPTTM diet and the other fraction was mixed with additional 1% ADEPPTTM product for the 1% ADEPPTTM diet. The one third of each diet was blended (50:50) to make the 0.5% ADEPPTTM diet.
Body weight of each pig and feed consumption were recorded weekly at d 0 (study initiation), d 7, 14, 21, and 28 postweaning for calculation of average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F). Fecal score was recorded every day for the entire experimental period using a 4-scale fecal score system (1=normal, 2=soft, looser than normal feces, slight diarrhea, 3=moderate diarrheic feces, and 4=liquid, severe diarrhea) by observing individual pigs in each pen and assessing stool consistency in the pen.
Body weight and feed consumption were recorded weekly for the diarrheic pigs after the 3-d solution treatment starting from d 8 postweaning.
[ii]2The trace mineral and vitamin premix supplied the following per kilogram of diet: 53 mg of Mn as manganese sulfate, 150 mg of Fe as ferrous sulfate, 300 mg of Zn as zinc sulfate, 240 mg of Cu as copper sulfate, 0.9 mg of I as ethylenediamine dihydroiodide, and 0.36 mg of Se as sodium selenite with 0.48% salt, 13,200 IU of vitamin A, 2,112 IU of vitamin D3, 158 IU of vitamin E, 2.6 mg of vitamin K, 42.2 mg of vitamin B12, 12.0 mg of riboflavin, 79 mg of pantothenic acid, 60 mg of niacin, 1.6 mg of folic acid, 3.4 mg of vitamin B6, 2.4 mg of thiamin, and 0.11 mg of biotin. 3SID = standardized ileal digestible, STTD = standardized total tract digestible.
Because individual pigs (3 pigs per treatment) were removed from the feeding trial pens at different days and housed together in one pen within the treatment, the ADFI was calculated only on a pen basis for diarrhea pens. Fecal score of individual pigs was also recorded every day using the 4-scale fecal score system from d 8 postweaning after the 3-d solution treatment of ADEPPTTM and electrolytes.
All data were analyzed by ANOVA for a randomized complete block design with the model term of treatment and replicate using PROC GLM of SAS (version 9.2; SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). A pen in the feeding trial and an individual pig in the diarrhea pen were used as the experimental unit. In the feeding trial, growth performance data were from only 5 remaining pigs in the pen due to removal of a diarrheic pig from each pen and the feed intake data for those pigs were adjusted as described by Lindemann and Kim (2007). Orthogonal polynomial contrasts were performed to evaluate linear and quadratic effects of ADEPPTTM supplementation levels. Least squares means were separated using the PDIFF option of SAS. Statistical differences were considered significant at p<0.05 and tendency at p<0.12.
In the feeding trial, quadratic trends were observed in G:F during d 0-7 and 0-28 postweaning (p=0.09) with the greatest values in the 0.5% ADEPPTTM treatment (Table 2). However, there were no significant differences in BW and ADFI throughout the entire experimental period even though a linear reduction was observed in ADG during d 14-21 postweaning (p<0.05) with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels.
Fecal score tended to decrease linearly in d 0-7 (p=0.11) and 0-14 (p=0.12) postweaning with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels (Table 3).
No differences were observed in BW and ADG of diarrheic pigs during the electrolyte and ADEPPTTM solution treatment for 3 days (Table 4).
However, there was a linear increase in ADG of diarrheic pigs in d 21-28 postweaning (p=0.08) with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels along with numerical increases in ADG of diarrheic pigs in the other periods (Table 4). However, no significant difference was observed in fecal score of diarrheic pigs (Table 5).
[i]1Least squares means (n=3 pens per treatment with 5 remaining pigs per pen after removal of diarrheic pigs).
[ii]2Treatments were 1) Basal diet without ADEPPTTM supplementation, 2) Basal diet + 0.5% ADEPPTTM supplementation, and 3) Basal diet + 1.0% ADEPPTTM supplementation.
[iv]4Fecal score was recorded every day for the entire experimental period using a 4-scale fecal score system (1=normal, 2=soft, looser than normal feces, slight diarrhea, 3=moderate diarrheic feces, and 4=liquid, severe diarrhea) for each pen following observations of individual pig and signs of stool consistency in the pen.
[i]1A diarrheic pig was removed from each feeding trial pen and housed within treatment (3 pigs per treatment). Each diarrheic pig was treated with a 100-ml solution containing electrolytes and ADEPPTTM by drenching for 3 days after removal from the pen. Because the pigs were housed together in a pen within the treatment, the average daily feed intake was calculated only on a pen basis. 2Least squares means (n=3 individual pigs per treatment).
[i]1A diarrheic pig was removed from each feeding trial pen and housed within treatment (3 pigs per treatment). Each diarrheic pig was treated with a 100-ml solution containing electrolytes and ADEPPTTM by drenching for 3 days after removal from the pen. 2Least squares means (n=3 individual pigs per treatment).
[ii]3Treatments were 1) Basal diet without ADEPPTTM supplementation, 2) Basal diet + 0.5% ADEPPTTM supplementation, and 3) Basal diet + 1.0% ADEPPTTM supplementation.
[iv]5Fecal score of individual pigs was recorded from d 8 postweaning after a 3-d treatment of ADEPPTTM and electrolytes using a 4-scale fecal score system (1=normal, 2=soft, looser than normal feces, slight diarrhea, 3=moderate diarrheic feces, and 4=liquid, severe diarrhea) by observations of individual pigs.
Weaning, the most stressful event in pig’s life, is associated with postweaning diarrhea resulting in growth retardation in the nursery period. The current study evaluated the effect of ADEPPTTM supplementation to nursery diets on postweaning growth performance and diarrhea occurrence in pigs.
In the current study, feed efficiency in the early postweaning period tended to increase by 0.5% ADEPPTTM supplementation in the diet resulting in a similar trend in the overall period, and fecal score decreased with a linear trend in the first 2 weeks postweaning as the ADEPPTTM supplementation levels increased. Iron- binding polypeptides such as lactoferrin and ovotransferrin has been reported to reduce growth and proliferation of harmful bacteria in the pig gut (Sarelli et al., 2003; Giansanti et al., 2015) and decrease the number of bacteria adherent to intestinal epithelial cells (Dierick et al., 2020). Additionally, NSP prebiotics have been reported to improve gut microflora of pigs and reduce the occurrence of diarrhea after weaning resulting in improved postweaning growth performance (Gao et al., 2019). Therefore, these properties in the ADEPPTTM product may positively affect gut microflora of weaning pigs. Wang et al. (2006) reported that supplementation of iron- binding polypeptides (lactoferrin) improved growth rate, feed efficiency and non-specific immunity of weaning pigs. Gerritsen et al. (2012) reported that insoluble NSP supplementation for weaning pigs improved growth rate, feed intake and feed efficiency, and reduced intestinal E. coli concentration. Therefore, the results of the feeding trial in the current study indicated that ADEPPTTM supplementation at 0.5% level could enhance feed efficiency and reduce the occurrence of diarrhea in weaning pigs, which may be associated with improved gut microflora as evidenced by fecal score. Interestingly, growth rate was linearly reduced with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels only in d 14-21 postweaning. This may be attributed to a numerical decrease in feed intake with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels in the same period. In contrast, previous studies reported that growth rate of weaning pigs increased with supplementation of iron- binding polypeptides (lactoferrin) or insoluble NSP (Wang et al., 2006; Gerritsen et al., 2012). Although the reason for decreasing growth rate in d 14-21 postweaning is still unclear, the growth rate in the overall was not different among dietary treatments. Therefore, further studies may be needed to investigate the effect of ADEPPTTM supplementation to nursery diets on gut microflora, microbiome, and immunity of weaning pigs to clearly demonstrate its effects.
As iron-binding polypeptides and NSP may havebeneficialeffects ondiarrheaofpostweaning pigs (Kiarie et al., 2008; Dierick et al., 2020), the current study separated diarrheic pigs from the feeding trial into the separate pens to avoid further diarrhea transmission and provided the 3-d electrolyte solution treatment with feeding the same treatment diets to evaluate the potential dietary ADEPPTTM effect on postweaning diarrhea for pigs treated with the electrolyte solution. The BW and ADG of diarrheic pigs were not different in the 3-d electrolyte and ADEPPTTM solution treatment period. However, growth rate of diarrheic pigs tended to increase linearly in d 21-28 postweaning with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels, and the numerical increases of ADG were observed in the other periods. Additionally, the pen ADFI of diarrheic pigs increased numerically with increasing ADEPPTTM supplementation levels. This result indicated that ADEPPTTM supplementation might be effective to increase growth rate of diarrheic pigs by improving feed consumption. Dierick et al. (2020) reported that ovotransferrin could degrade several virulence factors produced by some enterotoxigenic E. coli strains and reduce the bacteria adherence to intestinal epithelial cells. It has been reported that NSP hydrolysis products could alleviate enterotoxigenic E. coli K88 enteritis in piglets and help to maintain fluid balance during its infection (Kiarie et al., 2008; 2009). Therefore, along with the electrolyte and ADEPPTTM solution treatment, supplementation of ADEPPTTM to the nursery diet could alleviate the severity of postweaning diarrhea and may lead diarrheic pigs to recover sooner resulting in increased feed consumption and thereby enhanced growth rate. Since the feed consumption was not affected by ADEPPTTM supplementation in the feeding trial, it is worth to note that the ADEPPTTM supplementation might be effective for pigs with postweaning diarrhea by increasing feed consumption, but effective for nursery pigs by improving feed efficiency and preventing diarrhea. Further studies may be needed with a larger number of pigs under diarrhea condition to demonstrate these effects more clearly.
In conclusion, ADEPPTTM supplementation to nursery diets may have a potential to enhance growth performance of weaning pigs at 0.5% level and reduce the occurrence of postweaning diarrhea and might be effective on postweaning diarrhea.
Appreciation is expressed to Heather Campbell and David James for help in diet preparation for the experiment.
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* To cite this article: Talukder J, Mclnerney CF, Nelson KL, Close BC, Srivastava AK, Jang YD. Effect of iron-binding polypeptides and non-starch polysaccharides supplementation on growth performance and fecal scores of weaning pigs. Rev Colomb Cienc Pecu 2022; 35(4): 233-242. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.rccp.v35n4a3 **