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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: jas.2007-0668v1 86/10/2609    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Liu, P. Articles by Li, S. Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Liu, P. Articles by Li, S. Y.

Effects of chito-oligosaccharide supplementation on the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal morphology, and fecal shedding of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus in weaning pigs¹

P. Liu^*, X. S. Piao^*,2, S. W. Kim^*,, L. Wang^*, Y. B. Shen^*, H. S. Lee and S. Y. Li^*

^* China Agricultural University, Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Centre, Beijing 100193, China; and Department of Animal Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27695; and and National Veterinary Research and Quarantine Service, Anyang 430-824, Korea

² Corresponding author: piaoxsh{at}mafic.ac.cn

A total of 50 weaning pigs (16 d of age; 4.72 ± 0.23 kg of BW) were selected to investigate the effect of dietary chito-oligosaccharide (COS) supplementation on growth performance, fecal shedding of Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus, apparent digestibility, and small intestinal morphology. Pigs housed in individual metabolic cages were assigned randomly to 5 treatments (n = 10), including 1 basal diet (control), 3 diets with COS supplementation (100, 200, and 400 mg/kg), and 1 diet with chlortetracycline (CTC) supplementation (80 mg/kg). Fresh fecal samples were collected to evaluate shedding of E. coli and Lactobacillus on d 0, 7, 14, and 21 postweaning. Fresh fecal samples collected from each cage from d 19 to 21 were stored frozen for determination of apparent total tract digestibility. On d 21, all pigs were killed to collect the middle sections of the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum for determination of mucosa morphology. Supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC improved (P < 0.05) overall ADG, ADFI, and G:F in comparison with the control. Supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg as well as supplementation of CTC increased (P < 0.05) apparent total tract digestibility of DM, GE, CP, crude fat, Ca, and P, whereas COS at 100 mg/kg increased (P < 0.05) the digestibility of DM, Ca, and P in comparison with the control diet. Pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS or CTC had a decreased (P < 0.05) incidence of diarrhea and decreased diarrhea scores compared with control pigs. Fecal samples from pigs receiving diets supplemented with COS had greater (P < 0.05) Lactobacillus counts than those from control pigs and pigs receiving diets supplemented with CTC on d 14 and 21. However, supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and supplementation of CTC decreased (P < 0.05) E. coli counts in the feces on d 21 compared with the control diet. Dietary supplementation of COS at 200 mg/kg and of CTC increased (P < 0.05) the villus height and villus:crypt ratio at the ileum and jejunum, and COS at 100 mg/kg also increased (P < 0.05) the villus height in the ileum compared with the control diet. The current results indicated that dietary supplementation of COS at 100 and 200 mg/kg enhanced growth performance by increasing apparent digestibility, decreasing the incidence of diarrhea, and improving small intestinal morphology.

Key Words: chito-oligosaccharide • Escherichia coli • growth performance • intestinal morphology • Lactobacillus • pig