Performance Responses, Nutrient Digestibility, Blood Characteristics, and Measures of Gastrointestinal Health in Weanling Pigs Fed Protease Enzyme

A review on the alternatives to antibiotics and the treatment of antibiotic pollution: Current development and future prospects

Antibiotics, widely used in the fields of medicine, animal husbandry, aquaculture, and agriculture, pose a serious threat to the ecological environment and human health. To prevent antibiotic pollution, efforts have been made in recent years to explore alternative options for antibiotics in animal feed, but the effectiveness of these alternatives in replacing antibiotics is not thoroughly understood due to the variation from case to case. Furthermore, a systematic summary of the specific applications and limitations of antibiotic removal techniques in the environment is crucial for developing effective strategies to address antibiotic contamination. This comprehensive review summarized the current development and potential issues on different types of antibiotic substitutes, such as enzyme preparations, probiotics, and plant extracts. Meanwhile, the existing technologies for antibiotic residue removal were discussed under the scope of application and limitation. The present work aims to highlight the strategy of controlling antibiotics from the source and provide valuable insights for green and efficient antibiotic treatment.

Strategies for reducing noxious gas emissions in pig production: a comprehensive review on the role of feed additives

The emission of noxious gases is a significant problem in pig production, as it can lead to poor production, welfare concerns, and environmental pollution. The noxious gases are the gasses emitted from the pig manure that contribute to air pollution. The increased concentration of various harmful gasses can pose health risks to both animals and humans. The major gases produced in the pig farm include methane, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, sulfur dioxide and volatile fatty acids, which are mainly derived from the fermentation of undigested or poorly digested nutrients. Nowadays research has focused on more holistic approaches to obtain a healthy farm environment that helps animal production. The use of probiotics, prebiotics, dietary enzymes, and medicinal plants in animal diets has been explored as a means of reducing harmful gas emissions. This review paper focuses on the harmful gas emissions from pig farm, the mechanisms of gas production, and strategies for reducing these emissions. Additionally, various methods for reducing gas in pigs, including probiotic interventions; prebiotic interventions, dietary enzymes supplementation, and use of medicinal plants and organic acids are discussed. Overall, this paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of knowledge on reducing noxious gas in pigs and offers valuable insights for pig producers, nutritionists, and researchers working in this area.

Dietary supplementation of proteases on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics and gut microbiota of growing pigs fed sorghum-based diets

Low-tannin sorghum is an excellent energy source in pig diets. However, sorghum contains several anti-nutritional factors that may have negative effects on nutrient digestibility. The impacts of proteases on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood parameters, and gut microbiota of growing pigs fed sorghum-based diets were studied in this study. Ninety-six pigs (20.66 ± 0.65 kg BW) were allocated into three groups (eight pens/group, four pigs/pen): (1) CON (control diet, sorghum-based diet included 66.98% sorghum), (2) PRO1 (CON + 200 mg/kg proteases), (3) PRO2 (CON + 400 mg/kg proteases) for 28 d. No differences were observed in growth performance and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients between CON and PRO1 groups. Pigs fed PRO2 diet had increased (P < 0.05) BW on d 21 and 28, and increased (P < 0.05) average daily gain during d 14-21 and the overall period compared with pigs fed CON diet. In addition, pigs fed PRO2 diet had improved (P < 0.05) ATTD of gross energy, CP, and DM compared with pigs fed CON and PRO1 diets. Pigs fed PRO2 diet had lower (P < 0.05) plasma globulin (GLB) level and higher (P < 0.05) plasma glucose, albumin (ALB) and immunoglobulin G levels, and ALB/GLB ratio than pigs fed CON and PRO1 diets. Furthermore, pigs fed PRO2 diet had decreased (P < 0.05) the relative abundance of Acidobacteriota at the phylum level and increased (P < 0.05) the relative abundance of Prevotella_9 at the genus level. The linear discriminant analysis effect size analysis also showed that pigs fed PRO2 diet had significantly enriched short-chain fatty acid-producing bacteria, such as Subdoligranulum and Parabacteroides. In conclusion, protease supplementation at 400 mg/kg improved the growth performance of growing pigs fed sorghum-based diets, which may be attributed to the improvement of nutrient digestibility, host metabolism, immune status and associated with the altered gut microbiota profiles.

Effects of Protease in Soybean Meal-Reduced Diets on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, and Intestinal Health of Weaned Piglets

This experiment was conducted in weaned piglets to determine the effects of exogenous protease to low soybean meal (SBM) diets on growth performance, diarrhea rate, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal morphology. Seventy-two Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire weaned barrows (21-day-old, 5.88 ± 0.95 kg) were randomly divided into four treatments with six replicates in each following a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of SBM levels (0 to 14 d, 9%, 7.5%; 15 to 42 d, 20%, 18.5%) and protease (0 or 150 mg/kg) for a 42-day trial. Fecal samples were collected on days 11 to 14 and 38 to 42 of the experiment, and serum, intestinal tissue, and chyme samples were taken at the end of the experiments. Adding protease in low SBM diets had a significant increase in ADG (p < 0.05) and a decrease in F/G (p < 0.05). Protease significantly reduced the diarrhea rate (p < 0.05). Low SBM level decreased the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of crude protein (CP) and ash (p < 0.05) but increased the ATTD of dry matter (DM), ash, organic matter (OM), and CP after the addition of protease (p < 0.05). The apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of aspartic acid (Asp), threonine (Thr), serine (Ser), alanine (Ala), lysine (Lys), and total amino acids (AAs) were significantly increased by protease supplementation (p < 0.05). Both the SBM-reduced and protease-added diets lead to lower albumin (ALB), albumin/globulin (A/G), and urea nitrogen (UREA) (p < 0.05), but greater globulin (GLOB) with low SBM diets (p < 0.05). The SBM-reduced and protease-added diets decreased the duodenum pH, respectively (p < 0.05). The protease increased the villus:crypt (V:C) in the duodenum and ileum, and ileal villus length (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the dietary supplementation of 150 mg/kg protease improved the intestinal health and performance of the weaned piglets and reversed the negative effect of a 1.5% SBM reduction in nutrient utilization, intestinal pH, and intestinal morphological parameters of weaned piglets.

Lactobacillus-driven feed fermentation regulates microbiota metabolism and reduces odor emission from the feces of pigs

IMPORTANCE

Our present study showed that dietary supplementation with feed fermented by Lactobacillus could promote the growth performance of pigs, regulate the microbiota, and inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. It could prevent the accumulation of toxic substances and reduce odor emission from pig feces, thereby reducing environmental pollution. In addition, one key triumph of the present study was the isolation of Weissella cibaria ZWC030, and the strain could inhibit the production of skatole in vitro in our present results.

Exogenous protease supplementation to the diet enhances growth performance, improves nitrogen utilization, and reduces stress in finishing pigs

We have conducted this experiment to evaluate a new exogenous protease in finishing pigs' growth performance, nutrient digestibility, gas emission, blood profiles, and meat quality. A total of 200 pigs of 52.15 ± 2.31 kg average body weight (BW) were divided into four dietary treatments named as: CON, basal diet; TRT1, basal diet + 0.05% protease; TRT2, basal diet + 0.1% protease; TRT3, basal diet + 1.5% protease. Each treatment consisted of 10 pens, where five pigs were allotted to each pen according to their body weight and sex. The dietary treatments were allotted to the pens in a randomized block design. During this 10-week-long experiment, BW, average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain to feed ratio (G:F) were calculated for Week 0-5, Week 6-10, and the overall period. During Week 6-10, ADG was higher in TRT2 and TRT3 than in the CON and TRT1 groups. At the same time, a linear increase was observed in ADG and G:F of the pigs. In addition, the final BW of pigs' was linearly increased by protease supplementation. On Week 10, there was a linear trend of increase (p = 0.0575) in crude protein digestibility and a trend of linear reduction (p = 0.0651) in NH₃ gas emission. In blood profile, cortisol presented a linear decrease in both Week 5 (p = 0.251) and Week 10 (p = 0.0585). In addition, increasing doses of protease showed a trend of linear increase (p = 0.0592) in creatinine, whereas linear reduction was observed in the concentration of epinephrine (p = 0.0636) and norepinephrine (p = 0.0167) during Week 10. In conclusion, protease supplementation helped in improving daily gain in finishing pigs through protein digestibility with associated reduction of ammonia emission and blood stress hormones.

Arazyme in combination with dietary carbohydrolases influences odor emission and gut microbiome in growing-finishing pigs

This study evaluated the effects of supplementing feed with arazyme and dietary carbohydrolases derived from invertebrate gut-associated symbionts on the noxious gas emissions, gut microbiota, and host-microbiome interactions of pigs. Here, 270 and 260 growing pigs were assigned to control and treatment groups, respectively. The tested feed additives contained a mixture of arazyme (2,500,000 Unit/kg) and synergetic enzymes, xylanase (200,000 Unit/kg) and mannanase (200,000 Unit/kg), derived from insect gut-associated symbionts in a 7.5:1:1 ratio. The control group was fed a basal diet and the treatment group was fed the basal diet supplemented with 0.1 % enzyme mixture (v/v) for 2 months. Odorous gases were monitored in ventilated air from tested houses. Fecal samples were collected from steel plate under the cage at the completion of the experiment to determine chemical composition, odor emissions, and bacterial communities. There was a significant decrease in the concentration of NH₃ (22.5 vs. 11.2 ppm; P < 0.05), H₂S (7.35 vs. 3.74 ppm; P < 0.05), trimethylamine (TMA) (0.066 vs. 0.001 ppm; P < 0.05), and p-cresol (0.004 ppm vs. 0 ppm; P < 0.05) at 56 d in treatment group compared with the control group. Moreover, fecal analysis results showed that exogenous enzyme supplementation caused a reduction in VFAs and indole content with approximately >60 % and 72.7 %, respectively. The result of gas emission analysis showed that NH₃ (9.9 vs. 5.3 ppm; P < 0.05) and H₂S (5.8 vs. 4.1 ppm; P < 0.05) were significantly reduced in the treatment group compared to the control group. The gut microbiota of the treatment group differed significantly from that of the control group, and the treatment group altered predicted metabolic pathways, including sulfur and nitrogen related metabolism, urea degradation. The results demonstrated that supplementing feed with arazyme with dietary carbohydrolases effectively controls noxious gas emissions and improves health and meat quality of pigs.

Effects of a Novel Protease on Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Intestinal Health in Weaned Piglets

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different protease levels on performance, diarrhea rate, nutrient digestibility, blood metabolites, digestive enzyme activities, and intestinal health of weaned piglets. A total of 96 weaned piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire, 28 d of age, initial average BW = 6.55 ± 0.17 kg) were divided into four groups (4 pigs/pen and 6 replicates/group) according to a completely random block design. Piglets were fed different levels of protease (0, 150, 300 or 600 mg/kg of diet) for 28 d. The results showed that the addition of protease had no significant effect on the growth performance of weaned piglets (p > 0.05), and the addition of 300 mg/kg protease significantly increased the apparent total intestinal digestibility (ATTD) of nutrients and the apparent ileal digestibility (AID) of amino acids in weaned piglets (p < 0.05), while the addition of 150 mg/kg and 600 mg/kg protease had no significant effect on the digestibility (p > 0.05). The nutrient digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and total energy (GE) showed a trend of increasing and then decreasing with increasing protease concentration (p < 0.05). Adding 300 and 600 mg/kg protease significantly decreased serum ALB/GLO levels (p < 0.05) and duodenal pH (p < 0.05) and increased duodenal villus height (p < 0.05). The addition of protease significantly increased jejunal trypsin and chymotrypsin activities (p < 0.01) and duodenal and jejunal mucosal tight junction proteins in piglets. The mRNA expression levels of ZO-1 and CLAUDIN-1 in the duodenum together with ZO-1 and OCCLUDIN in the jejunum of piglets in the 300 and 600 mg/kg protease supplementation groups were significantly higher than those in the control group (p < 0.05). The results showed that, compared with the control group, protease could promote nutrient absorption, improve small intestine morphology and enhance digestive enzyme activity in weaned piglets. The suitable addition amount was 150−300 mg/kg in the present study.

Effects of protease enzyme supplementation in weanling pigs' diet with different crude protein levels on growth performance and nutrient digestibility

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of different levels of crude protein (CP) diets supplemented with dietary protease on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of the weanling pigs. In a 5-week study, 100 crossbred ([Landrace × Yorkshire] × Duroc) of weaner pigs that have an average initial body weight (BW) of 7.17±1.06 kg were assigned to one of four dietary treatments with 5 replications and 5 pigs (3 gilts and 2 castrated male pigs) per pen in a randomized complete block design. The dietary treatments were as follows: Phase 1: CON: basal diets (20.60% CP); low protein (LP): CON - 0.30% CP; PLP1: (CON - 0.30% CP) + 0.05% protease; PLP2: (CON - 0.50% CP) + 0.05% protease. Phase 2: CON: basal diets (18.88% CP); LP: CON - 0.30% CP; PLP1: (CON - 0.30% CP) + 0.05% protease; PLP2: (CON - 0.50% CP) + 0.05% protease. The addition of protease to low CP diets significantly increased the feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p = 0.039), BW (p = 0.046), average daily gain (ADG) (p = 0.049), and average daily feed intake (ADFI) tended to increase (p = 0.053) in the young pigs during phase 1. However, FCR tended to increase throughout the experiment but did not change during phase 2, whereas BW, ADG, and ADFI stayed unchanged throughout phase 2 and overall. There was no significant difference in dry matter, nitrogen (N), and gross energy of nutrient digestibility in all phases and overall in weaned pigs with low CP when protease was fed. In contrast, adding protease to the low CP diets increased the tendency of N digestibility (p = 0.059) during phase 1. It is concluded that dietary protease supplementation tended to increase N retention during the first phase of the weaning period, hence increasing piglet performance.

Effects of dietary supplementation with essential oils and protease on growth performance, antioxidation, inflammation and intestinal function of weaned pigs

This experiment evaluated the impacts of essential oils (EO) and protease (PRO), independently or in combination, on growth performance, antioxidation, inflammation and intestinal function of weaned pigs. One hundred and sixty weaned pigs (21 d of age, BW of 6.74 ± 0.20 kg) were randomly divided into 4 treatments with 8 replicate pens of 5 pigs per pen. Dietary treatments included the following: 1) control diet (CON), 2) CON with 300 mg/kg essential oils (EO), 3) CON with 500 mg/kg protease (PRO), 4) CON with 300 mg/kg essential oil and 500 mg/kg protease (EO + PRO). On d 8, one pig from each pen was selected for sampling. The remaining pigs were fed for an additional week and growth performance was monitored during this period. Dietary treatments had no marked effects (P > 0.05) on the growth performance of pigs. However, pigs receiving EO diet had higher (P < 0.05) serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, and tended to decrease (P = 0.063) serum concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α). In addition, pigs receiving EO diet had higher (P < 0.05) abundances of phylum Actinobacteria, and genera Bifidobacterium, and lower (P < 0.05) phylum Bacteroidetes and genera Alloprevotella in colonic digesta. Pigs receiving PRO diet decreased (P < 0.05) the serum concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA) and diamine oxidase activity, increased (P < 0.05) the villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in duodenum, increased sucrase activity in jejunal mucosa, and also increased the abundance of phylum Actinobacteria in colonic digesta. Furthermore, the synergistic effects of EO and PRO was observed (P < 0.05) for pigs with decreasing serum TNF-α concentration and increasing serum GSH-Px activity. Collectively, the results indicated that dietary supplementation of EO and PRO had no significant effects on growth performance of weaned pigs. EO diet appeared to improve antioxidant activity and intestinal microbiota, while PRO diet improved intestinal morphology and digestive enzyme activity, and there was a synergistic effect of EO and PRO on reducing inflammatory parameters in weaned pigs.

Reduction in Diarrhoea and Modulation of Intestinal Gene Expression in Pigs Allocated a Low Protein Diet without Medicinal Zinc Oxide Post-Weaning

Simple Summary

Post-weaning diarrhoea in pigs can be a challenge and medicinal zinc oxide can decrease the need for antibiotic treatment. Low protein diets decrease diarrhoea post-weaning and soy protein concentrate improves protein digestion when compared to a soybean meal based diet. The aim of this study was to test the effect of low protein diets with different protein sources as an alternative to medicinal zinc oxide. The study demonstrated that low protein diets can decrease diarrhoea-related antibiotic treatments but also reduces growth performance. Additionally, the study presented a difference in gut nutrient metabolism when feeding very low protein levels.

Abstract

Weaning comprises a challenging period for pigs, but dietary tools can be implemented to avoid excess antibiotics usage. Therefore, we tested the effect of a 17.6% crude protein (CP) diet on growth and diarrhoea and investigated the effect of a 15.5% CP diet post-weaning on transcriptomic responses, growth, and diarrhoea-related antibiotic treatments. At weaning, pigs were divided into five dietary treatment groups in a three-phase diet from weaning to 30 kg bodyweight. The diets included a positive control group (PC) with medicinal zinc oxide, a negative control group (NC), a 17.6% CP diet based on soy protein concentrate (SP), a 17.6% CP diet based on soybean meal (SB), and a 15.5% CP diet with additional amino acids (XLA). Growth performance and the occurrence of diarrhoea were similar between the SP and SB groups. The XLA pigs had a reduced weight gain and fewer antibiotics treatments caused by diarrhoea, as well as a reduced level of blood proteins. Intestinal tissue samples from the XLA pigs displayed decreased expression of genes involved in nutrient metabolism and immune responses relative to the PC group. In conclusion, a very low CP diet reduces antibiotics treatments, but also adapts gut nutrient metabolism and reduces growth performance.

Investigating the effects of peptide-based, MOS and protease feed additives on the growth performance and fecal microbial composition of weaned pigs

Background

Digestive disorders in weaning pigs remain a major challenge for swine producers. Different types of commercial feed additives have been developed to promote gut health and development in young pigs, but their effects on resident gut microbial communities remain largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a peptide-based product (Peptiva) in combination with mannose oligosaccharides (MOS) and an exogenous protease on the performance and fecal microbiome of nursery pigs.

Methods

A total of 1097 weaned pigs were divided into 44 pens (24–26 pigs/pen) with each pen randomly assigned to one of four experimental diets as part of Phase II and Phase III of a standard nursery phase feeding program. Fecal samples collected from representative control and treatment pigs were used to investigate bacterial composition profiles by high throughput sequencing of PCR-generated amplicons targeting the V1-V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene.

Results

Higher gain:feed was observed for pigs fed Peptiva and MOS compared to Controls during the period when experimental diets were fed, but the benefits of supplementation were not maintained after pigs were transitioned to a non-supplemented diet. Three candidate bacterial species, identified as Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs), were found to have significantly different abundances between control samples and treatment samples during the same phase. In Phase III samples, SD_Ssd-00039, predicted to be a strain of Streptococcus alactolyticus based on nucleotide sequence identity, was the most highly represented of these OTUs with an average abundance in pigs fed Peptiva, MOS and protease that was 3.9 times higher than in Controls. The report also presents evidence of microbial succession that occurred during the trial, with 16 of the 32 most abundant OTUs found to vary between Phase II and Phase III samples for the same dietary treatment.

Conclusions

Dietary supplementation with a combination of a peptide-based product, MOS, and protease increased the growth performance of weaned pigs compared to control animals during the nursery phase, but these benefits were no longer observed within 2 weeks after all animals were transitioned to a non-supplemented diet. Supplementation with these feed additives was found to modulate the composition of the swine gut microbiome during this period.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40104-022-00681-8.

The Effects of Protease Supplementation and Faba Bean Extrusion on Growth, Gastrointestinal Tract Physiology and Selected Blood Indices of Weaned Pigs

Simple Summary

Faba beans could be a valuable raw material in pigs’ diets, but the presence of anti-nutritional factors limits their wide use. The aim of the study was to investigate how the extrusion of faba bean seeds and/or the addition of protease to pigs’ diets affected the animals’ growth parameters, digestibility of nutrients, selected physiological parameters of the digestive tract, and biochemical blood parameters. Our research showed that extrusion increased the nutritional value of faba bean seeds, especially by reducing antinutritional factors, but in comparison with raw seeds, it did not improve the pigs’ growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, intestinal structure, and physiology when the content of faba beans in the diet was below 10%. Thanks to protease supplementation in our study, protein and oil levels in the diet were reduced while maintaining the same pigs’ performance, which cut the cost of feeding. The extrusion and enzyme additives did not improve the pigs’ growth performance in this experiment, but protease appears to be highly promising in the commercial nutrition of pigs.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate how the extrusion of faba bean seeds (var. Albus) and/or the addition of protease to pigs’ diets affected the animals’ growth parameters, digestibility of nutrients, selected physiological parameters of the digestive tract, and biochemical blood parameters. A 28-day experiment was conducted on 32 pigs weighing 9 ± 0.2 kg. The animals were allocated to four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with the main effects of extrusion (raw or extruded) and effects of protease supplementation (0 and 0.05%). Extrusion reduced the levels of neutral detergent fibre, trypsin inhibitor, phytate-P, and resistant starch but did not improve the digestibility of protein and dry matter in faba bean seeds. The pigs’ growth performance, ileal digestibility, enzyme activity, and morphometric parameters of the ileum were not significantly affected by extrusion, except for a higher feed intake between the 15th and 28th day of the experiment. The protease supplementation gave comparable results as the diet without protease, except the feed conversion ratio (in the periods of 15–28th day and 0–28th day), which was higher than in the groups without protease. The extrusion and protease increased acetate and acetoacetate contents in the cecal digesta, but propionate, butyrate, and isovalerate concentrations in the digesta of the pigs in this group were lower. Thanks to protease supplementation, protein and oil levels in the diet were reduced, which cut the cost of feed mixtures. The extrusion and protease additive combined together did not improve the pigs’ growth performance in this experiment.

A systematic-review on the role of exogenous enzymes on the productive performance at weaning, growing and finishing in pigs

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Supplementation of exogenous enzymes in the general diet improves production characteristics in all stages of production.

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Phytases are the most supplemented enzymes in all productive stages of pigs.

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The inclusion of Phytases, used in the pig's diet showed an average dry matter digestibility (g/kg) 840.6 ± 25.5 in weaning, 862.5 ± 7.4 in growing and 802.0 ± 1.41 in finishing.

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The inclusion of xylanases used in the pig's diet showed an average in dry matter digestibility (g/kg) 829.5 ± 7.14 in weaning and 759.1 ± 6.93 in finishing stages.

Supplementing exogenous enzymes in pig diets is an alternative solution to increase dietary energy and fiber digestibility to improve pig production performance at a low production cost and to reduce environmental impact with lower N and P excretions. The production stage, diet composition, enzyme source, amount and number of enzymes added, are factors to consider before using them. A database composed by 227 individual diets, resulting from 43 studies with 48 experimental records were divided in different production stages, with 19 records for weaning, 17 records for growing and 12 records for finishing. A descriptive statistical analysis of the chemical composition of the diets and enzyme doses was carried out. The data with normal distribution were analyzed calculating the mean, the minimum and maximum length, the standard deviation and the coefficient of variation. It was found that combined enzymes are the most widely reported enzyme combination in the supplementation of pigs at all stages of production. Phytases and Mannanases are commonly used at weaning and growing stages. Xylanases and Proteases have been reported to be used in all production stages. However, the highest yielding enzymes at weaning, growing and finishing stages were Phytases and Mannanases. Dietary supplementation of exogenous enzymes improves production characteristics at all stages of production. However, an improvement in growth performance and nutrient digestibility is not always observed. Future studies should focus on the interaction between production stages, composition of the diet, origin of the enzyme and the amount and number of enzymes added.

Effects of feeding corn distillers dried grains with solubles diets without or with supplemental enzymes on growth performance of pigs: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the effects of the dietary energy system (net energy or metabolizable energy), oil content of corn distillers dried grains with solubles (cDDGS), diet inclusion levels, and pig age on growth performance of pigs fed cDDGS-based diets. Mean differences of average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), and gain:feed (G:F) were calculated and expressed as a percentage change relative to feeding corn-soybean meal (SBM)- and cDDGS-based diets to nursery [body weight (BW) < 25 kg] and growing-finishing (BW > 25 kg) pigs, and to compare the effects of supplementing various types of exogenous enzymes without or with phytase on growth performance. A total of 27 studies with 106 growth performance observations were included in the cDDGS dataset, and 34 studies with 84 observations for enzyme responses in cDDGS diets were used in the enzyme dataset. Approximately, 64.7% of the observations showed no change, and 26.7% of observations showed a reduction in ADG, ADFI, and G:F when feeding cDDGS-based diets to the nursery and growing-finishing pigs compared with feeding corn-SBM-based diets. Furthermore, feeding cDDGS diets resulted in decreased (P < 0.01) mean difference of ADG (-4.27%) and G:F (-1.99%) for nursery pigs, and decreased (P < 0.01) mean difference of ADG (-1.68%) and G:F (-1.06%) for growing-finishing pigs. Every percentage unit increase in the inclusion level of cDDGS in growing-finishing pig diet was associated with a decrease (P < 0.01) in ADG (-0.10%) and ADFI (-0.09%). Feeding high oil (≥10% ether extract) cDDGS-based diets to pigs resulted in a 2.96% reduction in ADFI whereas feeding reduced-oil (<10% ether extract) cDDGS-based diets reduced G:F by 1.56% compared with pigs fed corn-SBM-based diets. Supplementation of exogenous enzymes improved (P < 0.05) the mean difference of ADG and G:F by 1.94% and 2.65%, respectively, in corn-SBM-based diets, and by 2.67% and 1.87%, respectively, in cDDGS diets. Supplementation of exogenous protease, enzyme cocktail, or xylanase improved (P < 0.05) ADG by 7.29%, 2.64%, and 2.48% in pigs fed corn-SBM-based diets, respectively. There were no differences between the dietary addition of single enzymes and enzyme combinations for any growth performance parameters in corn-SBM- or cDDGS-based diets. In conclusion, feeding cDDGS-based diets slightly reduces the growth performance of nursery and growing-finishing pigs, but supplementation of xylanase or enzyme cocktail can improve G:F of pigs fed cDDGS-based diets.

Supplementation of protease to low amino acid diets containing superdose level of phytase for wean-to-finish pigs: effects on performance, postweaning intestinal health and carcass characteristics

This experiment investigated the effects of protease supplementation to low amino acid (AA) diets containing phytase on pig growth performance, postweaning intestinal health and carcass characteristics. A total of 936 weaned pigs (21 d of age, initial BW 5.87 ± 0.31 kg) were used in a 2 × 2 factorial design comparing the main effects of AA supply [standard feeding program: balanced for all nutrients with adjustment of Ca and P due to inclusion of phytase (2,500 FTU/kg in Phase 1 to 4; 500 FTU/kg in Phase 5 to 9) vs. low AA feeding program: 15% lower standardized ileal digestible lysine with relative reduction of all other essential AA] and protease level (0 vs. 0.0125%). Pens were assigned to dietary treatment according to a randomized complete block design with 26 pigs per pen and nine replicates per dietary treatment. Feed and water were provided on an ad libitum basis for all phases throughout the wean-to-finish period. Feed intake and body weight were determined every 2 wk during nursery period and monthly in the grow-finish period. Intestinal health in the first 17 d was assessed based on lactulose:mannitol ratio (L:M), serum IgA, and pen diarrhea assessment. Overall, pigs fed standard wean-to-finish diets had greater (P < 0.05) ADG and G:F than pigs fed low AA diets. Pig growth performance was not different throughout the wean-to-finish period with or without protease supplementation and with no interaction between AA supply and protease supplementation. There were no differences among dietary treatments for carcass characteristics. No difference was observed for urinary L:M and serum IgA; however, the L:M ratio was approximately 32% lower in pigs fed low AA diets + protease compared with pigs fed standard and low AA diets at d 5 and d 17 postweaning. Pigs fed protease supplemented diets had lower incidence of diarrhea (χ² < 0.05) compared with pigs fed diets without protease. Results of the experiment indicate that dietary protease supplementation benefits intestinal health of nursery pigs.

Dietary Inclusion of Blood Plasma with Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) Supplementation Enhanced the Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Lactobacillus Count, and Reduced Gas Emissions in Weaning Pigs

Simple Summary

Since 20th century, the use of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) supplement has been increased in animals feed due to its promising effects and potential to brighten the livestock industry in future. The feed cost of blood plasma is very expensive and, due to its high cost, it has been used mainly in piglet diets. In this regard, we implemented 3% blood plasma with 3% yeast supplementation to piglets mainly from 0–7 days, and gradually reduced the concentration of blood plasma with yeast supplement to 1.5:1.5% from 8–21 days and observed how it affects the overall performance of pigs on the remaining days 22–42 fed only basal diet. As expected, piglets fed blood plasma with yeast supplement over 0–21 days has a great impact on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbial, and gas emission at the end of the experiment. Thus, we suggest that blood plasma with yeast could be an excellent alternative in the livestock industry.

Abstract

This experiment was performed to examine the hypothesis that blood plasma (BP) with yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) supplement in the diet of weaning pigs could provoke the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal microbial, and reduce harmful gas excretion. A total of one hundred and eighty healthy piglets were taken and assigned (complete random blocks) to three dietary treatments as: Phase 1: Treatment (TRT) 1-6% BP; TRT 2-3% BP + 3% yeast; TRT 3-6% yeast. Phase 2: TRT 1-3%; BP., TRT 2-1.5% BP + 1.5% yeast; TRT 3- 3% yeast. Phase 3: TRT 1- Control (CON) (Basal diet); TRT 2- CON; TRT 3- CON for six- weeks. Each treatment had twelve replicates and five (three gilts and two barrows) pigs per pen. Dietary inclusion of BP with yeast supplementation significantly increased the body weight of piglets during phase 2 (p = 0.003) and phase 3 (p = 0.032). In addition, TRT2 group piglets had a significant improvement in average daily gain at the end of each phase and overall (p = 0.047, 0.025, 0.018 and 0.012, respectively). At phase 3, TRT2 group piglets showed a significant improvement on nutrient digestibility of dry matter (p = 0.012) and nitrogen (p = 0.040). The fecal microbiota of TRT2 group piglets showed a tendency to increase the number of Lactobacillus counts at phase 1 (p = 0.07) and phase 2 (p = 0.06) as well as, a significant improvement at phase 3 (p = 0.021). In addition, TRT2 group piglets had trend to decrease NH₃ (p = 0.074) and H₂S (p = 0.069) during phase 2, and significantly reduced NH₃ (p = 0.038) and H₂S (p = 0.046) at phase 3. However, the fecal score of piglets remains unaffected during the entire trial. At the end of phase 1 piglets’ IgG (p = 0.008) was significantly increased with the inclusion of BP with yeast supplementation. Based on the positive effects on body weight, average daily gain, nutrient digestibility, Lactobacillus count, and reduced gas emission, we suggest that dietary supplement with BP and yeast in the diet of weaned piglet could serve as an excellent alternative to antibiotics growth promoters.

Intestinal Health of Pigs Upon Weaning: Challenges and Nutritional Intervention

The primary goal of nursery pig management is making a smooth weaning transition to minimize weaning associated depressed growth and diseases. Weaning causes morphological and functional changes of the small intestine of pigs, where most of the nutrients are being digested and absorbed. While various stressors induce post-weaning growth depression, the abrupt change from milk to solid feed is one of the most apparent challenges to pigs. Feeding functional feed additives may be viable solutions to promote the growth of nursery pigs by enhancing nutrient digestion, intestinal morphology, immune status, and by restoring intestinal balance. The aim of this review was to provide available scientific information on the roles of functional feed additives in enhancing intestinal health and growth during nursery phase. Among many potential functional feed additives, the palatability of the ingredient and the optimum supplemental level are varied, and these should be considered when applying into nursery pig diets. Considering different stressors pigs deal with in the post-weaning period, research on nutritional intervention using a single feed additive or a combination of different additives that can enhance feed intake, increase weight gain, and reduce mortality and morbidity are needed to provide viable solutions for pig producers. Further research in relation to the feed palatability, supplemental level, as well as interactions between different ingredients are needed.

Effects of dietary supplementation of compound enzymes on performance, nutrient digestibility, serum antioxidant status, immunoglobulins, intestinal morphology and microbiota community in weaned pigs

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of compound enzymes (CE) (containing per g 375 U amylase, 2500 U protease, 4000 U xylanase and 150 U β-glucanase) on performance, nutrient digestibility, serum antioxidant status, immunoglobulins, intestinal morphology, volatile fatty acids contents and microbiota community in weaned pigs. Seventy-two pigs (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire, weaned at d 28) with an average body weight of 8.49 ± 0.87 kg were allotted into two treatments with six replicate pens per treatment (three barrows and three gilts per pen) according to sex and body weight in a randomised complete block design. The treatments contained a corn-soybean meal-barley basal diet (CON) or a basal diet supplemented with 1000 mg CE/kg (CE). The study was divided into phase 1 (d 1 to 14) and 2 (d 15 to 35). The average daily gain was increased (p < 0.05) in pigs fed CE in phase 2 and overall (d 1 to 35) compared with CON. These pigs had greater (p ≤ 0.05) serum IgA, IgG, superoxide dismutase and catalase contents, as well as tended to increase serum IgM content and apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of organic matter in phase 1 compared with CON. In phase 2, pigs supplemented with CE showed greater (p < 0.01) ATTD of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and gross energy compared with CON. These pigs also had increased (p < 0.05) IgA, IgG, IgM, superoxide dismutase contents, and decreased (p < 0.05) malondialdehyde content in serum compared with CON. Moreover, pigs fed CE had higher (p < 0.05) villus height and villus height to crypt depth ratio in ileum, and tended to increased acetic acid content in colon compared with CON. Furthermore, pigs fed CE had increased (p < 0.05) relative abundance of Firmicutes at phylum level, Lactobacillales at order level, Lactobacillaceae at family level, Bacilli at class level, Lactobacillus at genus level in caecum and colon, as well as lower (p < 0.05) relative abundance of Bacteroidetes at phylum level, Bacteroidales at the order level, Bacteroidia at class level, Clostridium_sensu_stricto_6 at genus level in colon compared with CON. In conclusion, dietary inclusion of compound enzymes could effectively improve nutrient digestibility, serum antioxidant status, immunoglobulin, gut morphology, microbiota community, and therefore improve performance in weaned pigs.

Effects of dietary mixture of protease and probiotics on growth performance, blood constituents, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary mixture of protease and probiotics on growth performance, blood constituents, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 48 growing pigs were randomly allotted into 2 dietary (6 pigs/pen; 4 replicates/treatment). The treatments were a diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON supplemented with 0.01% of dietary mixture of protease and probiotics (MULTI). No differences were found on growth performance (average daily gain, ADG; overall, 874.06 vs. 881.14 g/d; p > 0.05), blood constituents (white blood cell, WBC; phase I, 17.51 vs. 19.96 × 10³ /μL; phase II, 19.65 vs. 21.95 × 10³ /μL; p > 0.05), and carcass characteristics during overall experimental period between CON and MULTI. In conclusion, the addition of dietary mix-ture of protease and probiotics in growing-finishing pig diet did not have any beneficial effects.

Effect of protease derived from Pseudoalteromonas arctica supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, meat quality, noxious gas emission and blood profiles in finishing pigs

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation of protease derived from Pseudoalteromonas arctica (PPA) in finishing pigs. A total of 160 pigs were used in this 10-week trial. Dietary treatment groups were as follows: CON (basal diet); TRT1 (basal diet + 0.1% PPA); TRT2 (basal diet + 0.2% PPA); and TRT3 (basal diet + 0.3% PPA). During weeks 1-5, pigs fed with different levels of PPA-supplemented diet showed linear increase (p < .05) in the apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of nitrogen (N) and linear decrease (p < .05) in the concentrations of serum total protein. During weeks 6-10, pigs fed with different levels of PPA-supplemented diet showed a linear decrease in feed conversion ratio (p < .05). During the overall period, there was a linear decrease in feed conversion ratio (p < .05) associated with the inclusion of PPA. Pigs fed diets with 0.2% PPA supplementation had lower (p < .05) feed conversion ratio than those fed CON diet during weeks 6-10 and the overall period, and had higher (p < .05) ATTD of N than those fed CON diet during weeks 1-5. Pigs fed diets with PPA supplementation had lower (p < .05) concentrations of serum total protein than those fed CON diet on week 5. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with PPA diet has beneficial effects on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, backfat thickness and the concentrations of serum total protein.

Effects of protease supplementation on growth performance, blood constituents, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary protease on growth performance, blood constituents, and carcass characteristics of growing-finishing pigs. A total of 48 growing pigs (initial body weight, 34.8 ± 0.62 kg) were randomly assigned to 2 dietary treatments (6 pigs/pen; 4 replicates/treatment). The treatments were a diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON) and CON supplemented with 0.01 % of protease (PRO). Pigs were fed respective dietary treatments with a 2-phase feeding program for 12 weeks. Pigs fed PRO had higher average daily gain (ADG; phase I, 866.38 vs. 821.75 g/d; overall, 910.96 vs. 866.30 g/d; p < 0.05) and gain to feed ratio (G:F; phase I, 0.345 vs. 0.363 g/g; p < 0.05) than those fed CON. However, there were no differences on blood constituents and carcass characteristics between CON and PRO of growing-finishing pigs. In conclusion, dietary protease supplementation in the typical diet for growing-finishing pigs improved growth rate.

Dietary multi-enzyme complex improves In Vitro nutrient digestibility and hind gut microbial fermentation of pigs

This study was conducted in two stages to investigate the potential of multi-enzyme supplementation on the nutrient digestibility, growth performance, and gut microbial composition of pigs. In stage 1, effects of multi-enzyme complex (xylanase, α-amylase, β-glucanase, and protease) supplementation on the ileal and total tract dry matter (DM) digestibility of feed-stuffs were investigated with in vitro two-stage and three-stage enzyme incubation methods. A wide range of feed ingredients, namely, corn meal, wheat meal, soybean meal, fish meal, Oriental herbal extract, Italian rye-grass (IRG) and peanut hull were used as substrates. Supplementation of the multi-enzyme complex increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of the Oriental herbal extract and corn meal. In stage 2, in vivo animal studies were performed to further investigate the effects of the dietary multi-enzyme complex on the nutrient utilization, growth performance, and fecal microbial composition of pigs. A total of 36 weaned pigs were fed corn- and soybean meal-based diets without (control) and with the multi-enzyme complex (treatment) for 6 weeks. Fecal samples were collected from 12 pigs to analyze the microbial communities by using DNA sequencing and bioinformatics tools. Multi-enzyme supplementation had no effect on apparent digestibility of nutrients and growth performance of pigs compared to control. Taxonomic analysis of the fecal samples indicated that the bacteria in both control and treatment samples predominantly belonged to Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. In addition, the proportion of the phylum Firmicutes was slightly higher in the treatment group. At the genus level, the abundance of Treponema and Barnesiella increased in the treatment group; whereas the numbers ofthe genera including Prevotella, Butyricicoccus, Ruminococcus and Succinivibrio decreased in the treatment group. These results suggest that multi-enzyme supplementation with basal diets have the potential to improve nutrient digestibility and modify microbial communities in the hind-gut of pigs.

Innovative drugs, chemicals, and enzymes within the animal production chain

The alarming number of recently reported human illnesses with bacterial infections resistant to multiple antibacterial agents has become a serious concern in recent years. This phenomenon is a core challenge for both the medical and animal health communities, since the use of antibiotics has formed the cornerstone of modern medicine for treating bacterial infections. The empirical benefits of using antibiotics to address animal health issues in animal agriculture (using therapeutic doses) and increasing the overall productivity of animals (using sub-therapeutic doses) are well established. The use of antibiotics to enhance profitability margins in the animal production industry is still practiced worldwide. Although many technical and economic reasons gave rise to these practices, the continued emergence of antimicrobial resistant bacteria is furthering the need to reduce the use of medically important antibiotics. This will require improving on-farm management and biosecurity practices, and the development of effective antibiotic alternatives that will reduce the dependence on antibiotics within the animal industry in the foreseeable future. A number of approaches are being closely scrutinized and optimized to achieve this goal, including the development of promising antibiotic alternatives to control bacterial virulence through quorum-sensing disruption, the use of synthetic polymers and nanoparticles, the exploitation of recombinant enzymes/proteins (such as glucose oxidases, alkaline phosphatases and proteases), and the use of phytochemicals. This review explores the most recent approaches within this context and provides a summary of practical mitigation strategies for the extensive use of antibiotics within the animal production chain in addition to several future challenges that need to be addressed.

Intestinal challenge with enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in pigs, and nutritional intervention to prevent postweaning diarrhea

Gut health of nursery pigs immediately after weaning is tightly associated with their growth performance and economic values. Postweaning diarrhea (PWD) is one of the major concerns related to gut health of nursery pigs which often is caused by infections of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), mainly including F4 (K88)+ and F18+E. coli. The main virulence factors of ETEC are adhesins (fimbriae or pili) and enterotoxins. The common types of fimbriae on ETEC from PWD pigs are F18+ and F4+. Typically, PWD in pigs is associated with both F18+ and F4+ ETEC infections whereas pre-weaning diarrhea in pigs is associated with F4+ ETEC infection. Enterotoxins including heat-labile enterotoxins (LT) and heat-stable peptide toxins (ST) are associated with causing diarrhea in pigs. At least 109 to 1010 ETEC are required to induce diarrhea in nursery pigs typically lasting 1 to 5 days after ETEC infection. Antibiotics used to be the most effective way to prevent PWD, however, with the increased bacterial resistance to antibiotics, alternatives to the use of antibiotics are urgently needed to prevent PWD. Immunopropylaxis and nutritional intervention of antimicrobial minerals (such as zinc oxide and copper sulfate), organic acids, functional feedstuffs (such as blood plasma and egg yolk antibodies), direct fed microbials, phytobiotics, and bacteriophage can potentially prevent PWD associated with ETEC. Some other feed additives such as nucleotides, feed enzymes, prebiotic oligosaccharides, and clay minerals can enhance intestinal health and thus indirectly help with preventing PWD. Numerous papers show that nutritional intervention using selected feed additives can effectively prevent PWD.

Post weaning diarrhea in pigs: risk factors and non-colistin-based control strategies

Post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) is one of the most serious threats for the swine industry worldwide. It is commonly associated with the proliferation of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in the pig intestine. Colistin, a cationic antibiotic, is widely used in swine for the oral treatment of intestinal infections caused by E. coli, and particularly of PWD. However, despite the effectiveness of this antibiotic in the treatment of PWD, several studies have reported high rates of colistin resistant E. coli in swine. Furthermore, this antibiotic is considered of very high importance in humans, being used for the treatment of infections due to multidrug-resistant (MDR) Gram-negative bacteria (GNB). Moreover, the recent discovery of the mcr-1 gene encoding for colistin resistance in Enterobacteriaceae on a conjugative stable plasmid has raised great concern about the possible loss of colistin effectiveness for the treatment of MDR-GNB in humans. Consequently, it has been proposed that the use of colistin in animal production should be considered as a last resort treatment only. Thus, to overcome the economic losses, which would result from the restriction of use of colistin, especially for prophylactic purposes in PWD control, we believe that an understanding of the factors contributing to the development of this disease and the putting in place of practical alternative strategies for the control of PWD in swine is crucial. Such alternatives should improve animal gut health and reduce economic losses in pigs without promoting bacterial resistance. The present review begins with an overview of risk factors of PWD and an update of colistin use in PWD control worldwide in terms of quantities and microbiological outcomes. Subsequently, alternative strategies to the use of colistin for the control of this disease are described and discussed. Finally, a practical approach for the control of PWD in its various phases is proposed.