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Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative...
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Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Pigs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2025 | Viewed by 8501

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Young-Dal Jang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Interests: enzymes; butyrate; emulsifier; probiotics; prebiotics; postbiotics; antioxidants; minerals; vitamins; sows; weaning pigs; growing-finishing pigs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In modern swine production, pigs and sows are susceptible to stress, diseases, nutritional deficiency, etc. Although there are multiple factors influencing the health of sows and pigs, the feed and its nutritional composition, including the use of feed additives and micronutrients, are critical to ensuring not only growth, development, and nutrient utilization but also the immunity, antioxidant capacity, and gut health and integrity of pigs and sows. In addition, as sows are the beginning of swine production, producing piglets, reproductive performance, health, colostrum and milk quality, and gut microbiome affect the health, survival, immunity, growth, and development of their offspring.

There have been a lot of research efforts to improve not only swine productivity but also the overall health of pigs and sows. Feed additives and micronutrients such as minerals and vitamins have shown beneficial effects in improving the performance, nutrient utilization, immunity, antioxidant capacity, and gut health of pigs and sows. Traditional and novel feed additives have been used in the diets of sows and pigs for their beneficial effects, but further research is necessary to demonstrate their effectiveness and mode of action in sows and pigs so that the producers and feed industry could utilize the feed additives appropriately in the swine diets and improve the entire swine productivity and health. Although a greater amount of minerals and vitamins are often supplemented to swine diets than the normal nutrient requirement estimates, further research is required to determine the actual needs of these micronutrients to not only ensure their performance but also to meet their actual nutritional needs for their health, immunity, and antioxidant capacity, as these are also important factors affecting the nutrient requirements.

For this Special Issue, you are invited to submit either original research papers or review articles evaluating and summarizing the effects of feed additives and micronutrients on performance, nutrient utilization, immunity, oxidative stress, and gut health in pigs and sows. This Special Issue will provide all scientists and producers with the scientific literature to understand the importance of immunity, antioxidant capacity, and gut health and integrity to ensure the overall health of sows and pigs and provide information regarding the benefits and mechanisms of feed additives and micronutrients, along with how to utilize them properly in swine diets; this will help swine production and the feed industry to become sustainable.

Dr. Young-Dal Jang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • pigs
  • sows
  • feed additives
  • minerals
  • vitamins
  • immunity
  • oxidative stress
  • gut health

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6363 KiB  
Article
Effect of Composite Probiotics on Antioxidant Capacity, Gut Barrier Functions, and Fecal Microbiome of Weaned Piglets and Sows
by Jilang Tang, Mingchao Zhao, Wenyue Yang, Hong Chen, Yihan Dong, Qi He, Xue Miao and Jiantao Zhang
Animals 2024, 14(9), 1359; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14091359 - 30 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1177
Abstract
This study investigated the efficacy of a composite probiotics composed of lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus reuteri, and bifidobacterium longum in alleviating oxidative stress in weaned piglets and pregnant sows. Evaluations of growth, oxidative stress, inflammation, intestinal barrier, and fecal microbiota were conducted. [...] Read more.
This study investigated the efficacy of a composite probiotics composed of lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus reuteri, and bifidobacterium longum in alleviating oxidative stress in weaned piglets and pregnant sows. Evaluations of growth, oxidative stress, inflammation, intestinal barrier, and fecal microbiota were conducted. Results showed that the composite probiotic significantly promoted average daily gain in piglets (p < 0.05). It effectively attenuated inflammatory responses (p < 0.05) and oxidative stress (p < 0.05) while enhancing intestinal barrier function in piglets (p < 0.01). Fecal microbiota analysis revealed an increase in the abundance of beneficial bacteria such as faecalibacterium, parabacteroides, clostridium, blautia, and phascolarctobacterium in piglet feces and lactobacillus, parabacteroides, fibrobacter, and phascolarctobacterium in sow feces, with a decrease in harmful bacteria such as bacteroides and desulfovibrio in sow feces upon probiotic supplementation. Correlation analysis indicated significant negative associations of blautia with inflammation and oxidative stress in piglet feces, while treponema and coprococcus showed significant positive associations. In sow feces, lactobacillus, prevotella, treponema, and CF231 exhibited significant negative associations, while turicibacter showed a significant positive association. Therefore, the composite probiotic alleviated oxidative stress in weaned piglets and pregnant sows by modulating fecal microbiota composition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition)
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11 pages, 561 KiB  
Article
The Effects of Poria cocos Polysaccharides on Growth Performance, Immunity, and Cecal Microflora Composition of Weaned Piglets
by Jinzhou Zhang, Heming Wang, Shuaitao Meng, Chuankuan Zhang, Liping Guo and Zhiguo Miao
Animals 2024, 14(7), 1121; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14071121 - 7 Apr 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1840
Abstract
This paper aims to identify Poria cocos polysaccharides (PCPs) as a potential feed additive used for swine production; thus, we explored the effects of different dietary inclusion levels of PCP on growth performance, immunity, and cecal microflora composition in weaned piglets. For this, [...] Read more.
This paper aims to identify Poria cocos polysaccharides (PCPs) as a potential feed additive used for swine production; thus, we explored the effects of different dietary inclusion levels of PCP on growth performance, immunity, and cecal microflora composition in weaned piglets. For this, a total of 120 28-day-old Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire weaned piglets (8.51 ± 0.19 kg; 28 ± 1 days of age) were randomly allocated to five groups that were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.1%, and 0.2% PCP, respectively, for 42 days. The results indicated that the average daily gain (ADG) and gain/feed ratio were higher in the PCP treatment groups than in the control group, with a linear effect. The serum concentrations of IgG, IgA, IL-2, IFN-γ, the number of CD4+ T cells, and the CD4+-to-CD8+ T-cell ratio (CD4+/CD8+) were increased, while the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were decreased in the PCP supplementation groups compared with those in the control group. Furthermore, the cytokine mRNA expression levels exhibited a similar trend in the spleen. PCP supplementation also reduced the abundance of Escherichia coli and Salmonella and enhanced that of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria in the cecum. In summary, dietary PCP inclusion exerted positive effects on the growth performance, immunity, and cecal microbiota of piglets and showed potential for use as a feed additive for improving the health of weaned piglets, with 0.1% being the optimal dosage. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition)
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14 pages, 2571 KiB  
Article
The Impact of a Proprietary Blend of Yeast Cell Wall, Short-Chain Fatty Acids, and Zinc Proteinate on Growth, Nutrient Utilisation, and Endocrine Hormone Secretion in Intestinal Cell Models
by Niall Browne and Karina Horgan
Animals 2024, 14(2), 238; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14020238 - 12 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1237
Abstract
In piglets, it is observed that early weaning can lead to poor weight gain due to an underdeveloped gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which is unsuitable for an efficient absorption of nutrients. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate have demonstrated their ability to improve [...] Read more.
In piglets, it is observed that early weaning can lead to poor weight gain due to an underdeveloped gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which is unsuitable for an efficient absorption of nutrients. Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) such as butyrate have demonstrated their ability to improve intestinal development by increasing cell proliferation, which is vital during this transition period when the small and large intestinal tracts are rapidly growing. Previous reports on butyrate inclusion in feed demonstrated significantly increased feed intakes (FIs) and average daily gains (ADGs) during piglet weaning. Similar benefits in piglet performance have been observed with the inclusion of yeast cell wall in diets. A proprietary mix of yeast cell wall, SCFAs, and zinc proteinate (YSM) was assessed here in vitro to determine its impact on cellular growth, metabolism and appetite-associated hormones in ex vivo small intestinal pig cells and STC-1 mouse intestinal neuroendocrine cells. Intestinal cells demonstrated greater cell densities with the addition of YSM (150 ppm) compared to the control and butyrate (150 ppm) at 24 h. This coincided with the higher utilisation of both protein and glucose from the media of intestinal cells receiving YSM. Ghrelin (an appetite-inducing hormone) demonstrated elevated levels in the YSM-treated cells on a protein and gene expression level compared to the cells receiving butyrate and the control, while satiety hormone peptide YY protein levels were lower in the cells receiving YSM compared to the control and butyrate-treated cells across each time point. Higher levels of ghrelin and lower PYY secretion in cells receiving YSM may drive the uptake of protein and glucose, which is potentially facilitated by elevated gene transporters for protein and glucose. Greater ghrelin levels observed with the inclusion of YSM may contribute to higher cell densities that could support pig performance to a greater extent than butyrate alone. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition)
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15 pages, 1274 KiB  
Article
Dose-Dependent Effects of Supplementing a Two-Strain Bacillus subtilis Probiotic on Growth Performance, Blood Parameters, Fecal Metabolites, and Microbiome in Nursery Pigs
by Karyn A. Duddeck, Tiffany E. Petersen, Haley J. Adkins, Alexandra H. Smith, Samantha Hernandez, Seth J. Wenner, Dan Yao, Chi Chen, Wenli Li, Priscila Fregulia, Anna Larsen and Young Dal Jang
Animals 2024, 14(1), 109; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14010109 - 28 Dec 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2087
Abstract
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation level of a two-strain Bacillus subtilis probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, fecal metabolites, and microbiome in nursery pigs. A total of 54 weaned piglets were allotted to three treatments in three [...] Read more.
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary supplementation level of a two-strain Bacillus subtilis probiotic on growth performance, blood parameters, fecal metabolites, and microbiome in nursery pigs. A total of 54 weaned piglets were allotted to three treatments in three replicate pens with six pigs/pen for a 28 d feeding trial. The treatments were as follows: control: no probiotic supplementation; Pro1x: B. subtilis supplementation at 1.875 × 105 CFU/g diet; and Pro10x: B. subtilis supplementation at 1.875 × 106 CFU/g diet. Body weight at d 14 postweaning (p = 0.06) and average daily gain for d 0 to 14 postweaning (p < 0.05) were greater in the Pro1x treatment than in the other treatments. Blood glucose levels were greater in both probiotic treatments than in the control treatment at d 14 postweaning (p < 0.05). In the fecal short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentrations, the butyrate concentrations were greater in the Pro1x treatment than in the other treatments (p < 0.05), and the acetate, propionate, and total SCFA concentrations were greater in the Pro1x treatment than in the Pro10x treatment (p < 0.05). The beta diversity of fecal microbiome composition at d 14 postweaning based on Unweighted Unifrac analysis was dissimilar between the Pro1x and Pro10x treatments (p < 0.05). In conclusion, dietary B. subtilis supplementation of two strains selected to reduce effects of pathogenic Escherichia coli to nursery diets at 1.875 × 105 CFU/g diet improved the growth rate in the early postweaning period, increased fecal SCFA concentrations and altered the fecal microbial community composition. A higher dose of B. subtilis did not improve the performance parameters over those of the control piglets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition)
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12 pages, 322 KiB  
Article
Euglena gracilis β-Glucans (1,3): Enriching Colostrum of Sow for Enhanced Piglet Immunity
by Rafael Humberto de Carvalho, Marco Aurélio Callegari, Cleandro Pazinato Dias, Susanne Kirwan, Mara Cristina Ribeiro da Costa and Caio Abércio da Silva
Animals 2023, 13(22), 3490; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13223490 - 12 Nov 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1530
Abstract
The effects of supplementing the diet of sows with βG-(1,3) derived from Euglena gracilis algae were assessed regarding quality and amount of colostrum as well as performance of piglets. A total of 120 sows (first (nulliparous) to sixth parity (multiparous)) from D85 of [...] Read more.
The effects of supplementing the diet of sows with βG-(1,3) derived from Euglena gracilis algae were assessed regarding quality and amount of colostrum as well as performance of piglets. A total of 120 sows (first (nulliparous) to sixth parity (multiparous)) from D85 of gestation until weaning were divided into two groups: the control diet group (n = 60) and the βG-(1,3) diet group (n = 60). Sows receiving βG-(1,3) exhibited an average increase of 870 g (24.9%) in colostrum production, leading to a 25.17% higher intake of colostrum by piglets. Furthermore, piglets in the βG-(1,3) group showed significantly superior weight gain of 34 g (50%) compared to the control group 18 h after birth (p < 0.05). Sows fed with βG-(1,3) produced colostrum with significantly higher concentrations of IgG (5.914 mg/mL, 16.16%) and IgM (0.378 mg/mL, 16.29%) than the control group (p < 0.05). Similarly, serum concentrations of IgG (13.86 mg/mL, 51.25%), IgA (17.16 mg/mL, 120.19%), and IgM (13.23 mg/mL, 144.78%) were significantly higher in sows fed with βG-(1,3) than in the control group (p < 0.05). Supplementing sows with βG-(1,3) derived from the Euglena gracilis algae resulted in increased colostrum production and consumption, along with greater weight gain in piglets during the first 18 h after birth. Additionally, both the colostrum produced by the sows and the blood serum of the piglets exhibited higher concentrations of immunoglobulins. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feed Additives and Micronutrients on Performance, Nutrient Utilization, Immunity, Oxidative Stress, and Gut Health of Pigs and Sows — 2nd Edition)
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