Evaluation of the protective effects of zinc butyrate in IPEC-J2 cells and grower pigs under heat stress.

Heat stress (HS) is a major environmental stressor primarily affecting swine performance through negative effects on intestinal health. Zinc and butyric acid supplementation help maintain intestinal integrity and barrier function, and has been shown to be beneficial to swine during stress conditions. We tested a novel formulation of zinc butyrate (ZnB) to study whether it has protective effects toward swine using pig intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) and in a grower swine HS trial.