One Iron Injection Is Not Enough-Iron Status and Growth of Suckling Piglets on an Organic Farm

Suckling piglets cannot satisfy their demand for the essential trace element iron from sows' milk alone, which is poor in iron. Therefore, iron is usually supplemented by injecting 200 mg iron (as iron dextran) on day 3 post natum. However, the longer suckling period in organic pig herds leads to iron intake from feed starting later. We hypothesized that one iron injection is not enough for organically reared piglets, and that a second and third injection would improve their iron status and growth. On an organically certified experimental farm, 288 piglets from 32 litters were allocated to three treatments with one iron injection on day 3, two injections on day 3 and 14 and three injections on day 3, 14 and 21 post natum, respectively. One injection resulted in the lowest hematocrit and serum iron levels until day 28 post natum and the lowest daily weight gains until weaning, while piglets receiving two or three iron injections did not differ from each other. Based on these observations, we conclude that one iron injection is not enough to ensure adequate iron supply and unimpaired growth of organically reared piglets, and additional iron supply is necessary.

The Effects of the Combination of Oral Lactoferrin and Iron Injection on Iron Homestasis, Antioxidative Abilities and Cytokines Activities of Suckling Piglets

Simple Summary

Previous studies have shown that an iron injection alleviates iron deficiency in suckling piglets, but decreases the fractional iron absorption and causes acute poisoning with poor efficiency of antioxidant system, and has other undesirable side effects. Lactoferrin is a critical regulator of iron absorption and oxidative stress. The present results showed that the combination of oral lactoferrin and iron injection is a more effective method to improve iron level, enhance antioxidant ability and modulate the cytokine activity in the suckling piglets.

Abstract

Iron deficiency is considered a common nutritional problem for suckling piglets. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of the combination of oral lactoferrin and iron injection on iron levels, antioxidant ability and cytokine activity in suckling piglets. A total of sixty suckling piglets taken from six sows (10 piglets per litter) with a similar parity were chosen. The lactoferrin (LF) group was orally administrated with lactoferrin solution (0.5 g/kg body weight per day) for a week, the CON group was orally administrated with the same dose of physiological saline. Each piglet (all groups) was given 100 mg of iron dextran (FeDex) by intramuscular injection at the third day of age. Six piglets (n = 6) from each group were euthanized on days 8 and 21. The oral lactoferrin improved the iron level of suckling piglets by increasing the concentrations of serum hemoglobin and hepatic iron on day 8. Gene expression of lactoferrin receptor (LFR) was significantly increased in the LF group piglets on day 8, while duodenal protein expression of the divalent metal transporter 1 (DMT1) was significantly reduced in the LF group on day 8. In addition, oral lactoferrin enhanced serum T-AOC activities and duodenal SOD activities on day 21. The LF piglets had a significantly increased serum concentration of IL-10 on day 8. These results indicated that a combination of oral lactoferrin and iron injection is a more effective method of improving the iron level by up-regulating the expression of the LFR gene, enhancing the antioxidant ability and modulating the cytokine activity in the suckling piglets.