The effects of supplementing the diet of the sow with seaweed extracts and fish oil on aspects of gastrointestinal health and performance of the weaned piglet

WITHDRAWN: Unlimited possibilities to use Сladophora (Chlorophyta, Ulvophyceae, Cladophorales) biomass in agriculture and aquaculture with profit for the environment and humanity

This article has been withdrawn: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been withdrawn at the request of the Publisher for legal reasons related to Elsevier's policy on Geographic Sanctions (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/trade-sanctions).

Assessment of the effects of sulfated polysaccharides extracted from the red seaweed Irish moss Chondrus crispus on the immune-stimulant activity in mussels Mytilus spp

Seaweeds contain a number of health enhancing and antimicrobial bioactive compounds including sulfated polysaccharides (SP). In the present study, SP extracted from a European red seaweed Irish moss Chondrus crispus was chemically analyzed, SP content extracted and the immune-response effect on wild Irish mussels Mytilus spp. investigated for the first time. A high percent yield of SP was extracted from C. crispus and the immune-stimulant activity of SP was assessed in a laboratory trial with mussels exposed to three different treatments of low (10 μg mL^-1), medium (20 μg mL^-1) and high (50 μg mL^-1) SP dose concentrations and a control mussel group with no exposure to SP. An initial mussel sample was processed prior to the trial commencing and mussels were subsequently sampled on Days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 10 post SP exposure. Both cell, humoral and immune related gene responses including haemocyte cell viability, haemocyte counts, lysozyme activity and expression of immune related genes (defensin, mytimycin and lysozyme mRNA) were assessed. No mussel mortalities were observed in either the treated or non-treated groups. Mussels exposed with SP showed an increase in haemocyte cell viability and the total number of haemocytes compared to control mussels. Lysozyme activity was also higher in treated mussels. Additionally, up-regulated expression of defensin, mytimycin and lysozyme mRNA was observed in SP treated mussels shortly after exposure (on Days 1, 2, and 3) to SP. These results indicate that a high quality yield of SP can be readily extracted from C. crispus and more importantly based on the animal model used in this study, SP extracted from C. crispus can rapidly induce health enhancing activities in Mytilus spp. at a cellular, humoral and molecular level and with a prolonged effect up to ten days post treatment.

Effects of Ecklonia cava as fucoidan-rich algae on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology and caecal microflora in weanling pigs

Objective

In the present study, role of increasing levels of Ecklonia cava (seaweed) supplementation in diets was investigated on growth performance, coefficient of total tract apparent digestibility (CTTAD) of nutrients, serum immunoglobulins, cecal microflora and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.

Methods

A total of 200 weaned pigs (Landrace×Yorkshire×Duroc; initial body weight 7.08±0.15 kg) were randomly allotted to 4 treatments on the basis of body weight. There were 5 replicate pens in each treatment including 10 pigs of each. Treatments were divided by dietary Ecklonia cava supplementation levels (0%, 0.05%, 0.1%, or 0.15%) in growing-finishing diets. There were 2 diet formulation phases throughout the experiment. The pigs were offered the diets ad libitum for the entire period of experiment in meal form.

Results

The pigs fed with increasing dietary concentrations of Ecklonia cava had linear increase (p<0.05) in the overall average daily gain, however, there were no significant differences in gain to feed ratio, CTTAD of dry matter and crude protein at both phase I and phase II. Digestibility of gross energy was linearly improved (p<0.05) in phase II. At day 28, pigs fed Ecklonia cava had greater (linear, p<0.05) Lactobacillus spp., fewer Escherichia coli (E. coli) spp. (linear, p<0.05) and a tendency to have fewer cecal Clostridium spp. (p = 0.077). The total anaerobic bacteria were not affected with supplementation of Ecklonia cava in diets. Polynomial contrasts analysis revealed that villus height of the ileum exhibited a linear increase (p<0.05) in response with the increase in the level of dietary Ecklonia cava. However, villus height of duodenum and jejunum, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio of different segments of the intestine were not affected.

Conclusion

The results suggest that Ecklonia cava had beneficial effects on the growth performance, cecal microflora, and intestinal morphology of weanling pigs.

Effect of Sea Tangle (Laminaria japonica) and Charcoal Supplementation as Alternatives to Antibiotics on Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Ducks

A total of 150 growing ducks were assigned to five dietary treatments to study the effect of sea tangle and charcoal (STC) supplementation on growth performance and meat characteristics in a completely randomized design. There were six replicates and five ducklings in each replication. The five dietary treatments were control, antibiotic, and 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% STC supplemented diets. No significant differences were found on ADG, ADFI, and gain:feed among treatments in different weeks. The overall (0 to 3 weeks) ADFI decreased in antibiotic treatment (p<0.05) whereas the gain:feed increased significantly upon 1.0% STC supplementation compared to control (p<0.05). No significant variation was found in meat chemical composition except crude fat content which was high in 1.0% STC dietary group (p<0.05). Meat cholesterol was reduced in 0.1% STC group (p<0.05) compared to other dose levels while serum cholesterol was unaffected. High density lipoprotein (HDL) content was high in 1.0% STC (p<0.05) and low density lipoprotein (LDL) was low in 0.1% and 1.0% STC dietary groups (p = 0.06). No significant effect was found on the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) of fresh meat, whereas the TBARS value of meat preserved for 1 week was reduced significantly in STC dietary groups (p<0.05). The 0.1% STC dietary group showed an increased myristic acid (p = 0.07) content whereas, the content of eicosapentaenoic (EPA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acids increased in STC supplementation than antibiotic group (p<0.05). An increased concentration of omega-3 fatty acids and a reduced ratio of n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio was found upon 1.0% STC supplementation compared to antibiotic dietary group (p<0.05). Therefore, 1.0% STC dietary supplementation can be used as alternatives to antibiotics in duck production.

The microbiological and immunomodulatory effects of spray-dried versus wet dietary supplementation of seaweed extract in the pig gastrointestinal tract

Seaweeds and seaweed extract (SWE) possess antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, and growth-promoting properties. Extracts can be prepared in different ways including wet, spray-dried, and freeze-dried forms. The aim of this study was to determine if spray drying of laminarin and fucoidan derived from Laminaria digitata had an effect on the microbiological and cytokine profile of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) compared to the wet SWE in newly weaned pigs. No differences in cytokine expression were observed between wet and spray dried SWE formulation in either the ileum or colon. Bifidobacteria counts were greater (P < 0.05) in the wet SWE formulation relative to both spray dried SWE and the basal diet in the ileum. In conclusion, neither of the SWE formulations had significant effects on the cytokine profile in the ileum or colon. However, a prebiotic effect observed in the ileum of piglets in response to the wet SWE formulation was lost following spray drying of the SWE.