Determination of the Optimal Level of Dietary Zinc for Newly Weaned Pigs: A Dose-Response Study.

One hundred and eighty individually housed piglets with an initial body weight of 7.63 ± 0.98 kg (at 28 days of age) were fed a diet containing either 153, 493, 1022, 1601, 2052 or 2407 mg zinc/kg (added Zn as zinc oxide; ZnO) from day 0-21 post weaning to determine the optimal level of Zn for weaned piglets.

Effects of environmental enrichment on health and bone characteristics of fast growing broiler chickens.

Providing environmental enrichment for broilers is a potential strategy to increase welfare, activity, and health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of environmental enrichment on health and leg bone characteristics of broilers. One control and 8 types of enrichment were included: 2 distances between food and water (7 and 3.

Quantitative Proteomics Analysis of Barley-Based Liquid Feed and the Effect of Protease Inhibitors and NADPH-Dependent Thioredoxin Reductase/Thioredoxin (NTR/Trx) System.

Liquid feeding strategies have been devised with the aim of enhancing grain nutrient availability for livestock. It is characterized by a steeping/soaking period that softens the grains and initiates mobilization of seed storage reserves. The present study uses 2D gel-based proteomics to investigate the role of proteolysis and reduction by thioredoxins over a 48 h steeping period by monitoring protein abundance dynamics in barley-based liquid feed samples supplemented with either protease inhibitors or NADPH-dependent thioredoxin reductase/thioredoxin (NTR/Trx).

Mineralisation of tubular bones is affected differently by low phosphorus supply in growing-finishing pigs.

Background: Phosphorus (P) supply is essential for bone mineralisation. Reduced P may result in osteopenia, whereas excessive P may result in environmental impacts. The objective was to study the long-term effect of three dietary P levels on net bone mineralisation in growing-finishing pigs.

Mammary metabolism and colostrogenesis in sows during late gestation and the colostral period.

The aims of this study were to investigate 1) the effect of high dietary fiber (DF; 19.3% to 21.7%) supplemented to late gestating sows on mammary uptake and metabolism of energy substrates as well as colostrum production and 2) the ontogeny of colostral fat and lactose synthesis using mammary carbon balance, and colostral protein using IgG as a biomarker.

Bone biochemical markers for assessment of bone responses to differentiated phosphorus supply in growing-finishing pigs.

Phosphorus (P) is essential for building and maintaining a healthy and strong skeleton. Moreover, dietary P supply may play a role for bone turnover, and the excretion of bone turnover metabolites may be useful as markers for sufficient dietary P supply. The objective was to study the long-term effects of low, medium, and high dietary P supply on bone metabolism in terms of serum concentration and urinary excretion of bone turnover components and metabolites in healthy growing-finishing pigs compared with bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of humerus and femur.

Influence of zinc supplementation on immune parameters in weaned pigs.

Zinc is an essential trace element, highly important for a well functioning immune system. In case of zinc deficiency, proper immune functions are not ensured thus leading to various diseases. Weaning of pigs from the sow causes stress, increasing susceptibility to infections.

Corn-Soy-Blend Fortified with Phosphorus to Prevent Refeeding Hypophosphatemia in Undernourished Piglets.

Background: Phosphorus (P) levels in refeeding diets are very important as undernourished children are at risk of hypophosphatemia during refeeding. For this reason, conventional corn-soy-blends (CSB) have been reformulated by the World Food Programme to obtain a mono-calcium-phosphate fortified product (CSB+) and a product further fortified with skim milk powder (CBS++).

Methods: Using a piglet model of undernourished children, we hypothesized that feeding of CSB+, CSB++ or CSB+ with added whey permeate (CSB+/wp) would help to prevent refeeding hypophosphatemia.

Whole Milk Increases Intestinal ANGPTL4 Expression and Excretion of Fatty Acids through Feces and Urine.

The angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPLT4) protein is involved in lipid metabolism and is known to inhibit lipoprotein lipase in the bloodstream. We investigated the effect of milk on intestinal ANGPTL4 and the metabolic profile of growing pigs and the effect of free fatty acids (FFAs) on ANGPTL4 in ex vivo and in vitro assays. Feeding pigs whole milk increased intestinal ANGPTL4 mRNA and increased fecal excretion of long-chain FFA compared to the control group fed soybean oil (n = 9).

Development of Bacillus subtilis mutants to produce tryptophan in pigs.

Objectives: To generate tryptophan-overproducing Bacillus subtilis strains for in situ use in pigs, to reduce the feed cost for farmers and nitrogen pollution.

Results: A novel concept has been investigated-to generate B. subtilis strains able to produce tryptophan (Trp) in situ in pigs.

Nontargeted LC-MS Metabolomics Approach for Metabolic Profiling of Plasma and Urine from Pigs Fed Branched Chain Amino Acids for Maximum Growth Performance.

The metabolic response in plasma and urine of pigs when feeding an optimum level of branched chain amino acids (BCAAs) for best growth performance is unknown. The objective of the current study was to identify the metabolic phenotype associated with the BCAAs intake level that could be linked to the animal growth performance. Three dose-response studies were carried out to collect blood and urine samples from pigs fed increasing levels of Ile, Val, or Leu followed by a nontargeted LC-MS approach to characterize the metabolic profile of biofluids when dietary BCAAs are optimum for animal growth.

Fermentation of rapeseed meal, sunflower meal and faba beans in combination with wheat bran increases solubility of protein and phosphorus.

Background: To increase self-supply of protein and phosphorus (P) in European pig and poultry diets and reduce nitrogen (N) and P excretion, attention is directed to approaches increasing protein and P digestibility of rapeseed, sunflower and faba beans. Wheat bran is rich in enzymes degrading and solubilizing protein and phytate. Herein, solubilization of protein, N and P was investigated when increasing ratios of wheat bran were fermented with rapeseed meal (RSM), sunflower meal (SFM), faba beans (FB) or a combination of these (RSM/SFM/FB).

Effects of Acidifying Pig Diets on Emissions of Ammonia, Methane, and Sulfur from Slurry during Storage.

Ammonia (NH) volatilization from intensive livestock production is a threat to natural ecosystems. This study investigated pig diet manipulation by 1% (w/w) benzoic acid (BA) amendment and lowering of dietary electrolyte balance through substituting 1.4% (w/w) CaCO with 2.

Effect of pH and recombinant barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) endoprotease B2 on degradation of proteins in soaked barley.

Nonfermented soaking of barley feedstuff has been established as an in vitro procedure prior to the feeding of pigs as it can increase protein digestibility. In the current study, two feed cultivars of barley (Finlissa and Zephyr) were soaked in vitro either nonbuffered or buffered at pH 3.6 and 4.

Models to quantify excretion of dry matter, nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon in growing pigs fed regional diets.

Modern pig production contributes to many environmental problems that relate to manure, especially in areas with highly intensive production systems and in regions like Asia where the regulative control is not effective. Therefore, the objective of this study was to use three different pig diets varying in dietary protein, fibre and fat as representative for Danish (DK), Thai (TH) and Vietnamese (VN) pig production to develop and evaluate different approaches to predict/calculate excretion from growing pigs in comparison with the experimentally determined values.Nine female growing pigs were used in a digestibility and balance experiment.

Similar growth plate morphology in stapling and tension band plating hemiepiphysiodesis: a porcine experimental histomorphometric study.

The tension band plating technique for hemiepiphysiodesis is new and advocated because it is believed to reduce the risk of premature closure of the growth plate compared to stapling. The benefit of the tension band plating technique has not yet been proven in experimental or randomized clinical studies. Ten weeks old domestic pigs in two randomized, paired studies were used.

Bioavailability of trace elements in beans and zinc-biofortified wheat in pigs.

The objectives of this experiment were to study bioavailability of trace elements in beans and wheat containing different levels of zinc and to study how the water solubility of trace elements was related to the bioavailability in pigs. Three wheat and two bean types were used: wheat of Danish origin as a control (CtrlW), two Turkish wheat types low (LZnW) and high (HZnW) in zinc, a common bean (Com), and a faba bean (Faba). Two diets were composed by combining 81 % CtrlW and 19 % Com or Faba beans.

Emissions of sulfur-containing odorants, ammonia, and methane from pig slurry: effects of dietary methionine and benzoic acid.

Supplementation of benzoic acid to pig diets reduces the pH of urine and may thereby affect emissions of ammonia and other gases from slurry, including sulfur-containing compounds that are expected to play a role in odor emission. Over a period of 112 d, we investigated hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S), methanethiol (MT), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), and dimethyl trisulfide (DMTS), as well as ammonia and methane emissions from stored pig slurry. The slurry was derived from a feeding experiment with four pig diets in a factorial design with 2% (w/w) benzoic acid and 1% (w/w) methionine supplementation as treatments.

Zinc attenuates forskolin-stimulated electrolyte secretion without involvement of the enteric nervous system in small intestinal epithelium from weaned piglets.

In a previous study, we found that secretagogue-stimulated electrolyte secretion was attenuated by dietary and serosal zinc in piglet small intestinal epithelium in Ussing chambers. Several studies show that the enteric nervous system (ENS) is involved in regulation of electrolyte and/or fluid transport in intestinal epithelium from many species. The aim of the present study is to examine the mechanisms behind the attenuating effect of zinc on electrolyte secretion and to study whether the ENS is involved in this effect of zinc in vitro.

Zinc reduces the electrophysiological responses in vitro to basolateral receptor mediated secretagogues in piglet small intestinal epithelium.

Dietary zinc treatment has a preventive impact on diarrhoea in newly weaned piglets and in undernourished children. The mechanisms behind this effect of zinc are however, still not fully understood. The aim of the present study was to assess if zinc has a direct effect on porcine intestinal secretory responses to different secretagogues in vitro.

Influence of dietary zinc oxide and copper sulfate on the gastrointestinal ecosystem in newly weaned piglets.

Dietary doses of 2,500 ppm ZnO-Zn reduced bacterial activity (ATP accumulation) in digesta from the gastrointestinal tracts of newly weaned piglets compared to that in animals receiving 100 ppm ZnO-Zn. The amounts of lactic acid bacteria (MRS counts) and lactobacilli (Rogosa counts) were reduced, whereas coliforms (MacConkey counts) and enterococci (Slanetz counts, red colonies) were more numerous in animals receiving the high ZnO dose. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequencing, the colonies on MRS were dominated by three phylotypes, tentatively identified as Lactobacillus amylovorus (OTU171), Lactobacillus reuteri (OTU173), and Streptococcus alactolyticus (OTU180).

Influence of weaning and effect of post weaning dietary zinc and copper on electrophysiological response to glucose, theophylline and 5-HT in piglet small intestinal mucosa.

This study aimed to examine how weaning and how dietary zinc and/or copper fed post weaning may affect the electrophysiological response to glucose and to chloride secretagogues in piglet small intestine in vitro. Study 1 included 54 piglets (six litters of nine piglets). One piglet from every litter was killed 1 day before weaning.