Article

Effects of lysozyme supplementation on performance, nutrient digestibility, intestinal microbiota, and blood profiles of weanling pigs challenged with Escherichia coli

Jae Hong Park, Shanmugam Sureshkumar, In Ho Kim*
Author Information & Copyright
1Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: In Ho Kim, E-mail: inhokim@dankook.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2021 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of LYS (lysozyme) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, excreta microflora population, and blood profiles of weanling pigs under Escherichia coli (E. coli) challenge. A total of 30 piglets weaned at 25 days, 7.46 kg body weight, were assigned to three dietary treatments, composed of five replications, two piglets per replication, for 7 days. The dietary treatment groups were negative control (NC; without antibiotics and LYS), positive control [PC; NC + antibiotic 55 mg/kg (CTC-Aureomix)], LYS (NC + 0.1% LYS). All piglets were challenged orally with 6 ml suspension, containing E. coli K88 (2 × 109 cfu/ml). Dietary supplementation with LYS and PC resulted in no significant differences in average daily gain and gain to feed efficiency. Weanling pigs fed with E. coli challenge with LYS and PC treatments had significantly enhanced nutrient retentions of dry matter and energy (p < 0.05); however, there was a tendency to increase nitrogen digestibility. Furthermore, significant effects on excreta, ileal, and cecal of the fecal microbial population as decreased E. coli (p < 0.05) counts with dietary inclusion of LYS and antibiotic, without effects on lactobacillus counts. A significant effect was observed on a white blood cells, epinephrine and cortisol concentrations were reduced in piglets fed diets containing E. coli challenge with LSY and antibiotic supplementation comparison with the NC group. Therefore, the present data indicate that LYS in diet could ameliorate the experimental stress response induced by E. coil in piglets by decreasing intestinal E. coli, white blood cells and stress hormones and improving nutrient digestibility.

Keywords: lysozyme; E. coli challenge; intestinal microflora; weaning pig