Journal
ANIMAL NUTRITION
Volume 6, Issue 2, Pages 134-142Publisher
KEAI PUBLISHING LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.aninu.2020.02.001
Keywords
Chitosan oligosaccharides; Milk production; Immunoglobulin; Gestation; Lactation
Funding
- Australia Awards Scholarships
- Charles Sturt University Postgraduate Research Scholarship
- Pork CRC Australia Honours Research Scholarship
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) are the hydrolyzed product of chitosan and have multifunctional health benefits. The objective of this study was to elucidate the effect of COS as a dietary supplement to gilts on their productivity and health and that of their litters. Gilts were randomly assigned to either a treatment (n = 30) or control group (n = 30). The treatment gilts were fed a standard dry sow ration supplemented with COS at 0.12 and 0.24 g/gilt per d during gestation and lactation, respectively, and the control group was fed the standard dry sow ration only. The body weight, reproductive performance, milk production and litter size for each gilt and body weight of corresponding litters were recorded. The serum immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, IgM) and secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) concentrations of gilts and piglets and fecal sIgA concertation of gilts were measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Our study showed that maternal COS supplementation 1) significantly increased gilt body weight in late pregnancy (P < 0.05), 2) significantly increased milk production of gilts at different stages (d 1, 3, 7 and 19) of lactation (P < 0.05), 3) significantly increased body weight gain of piglets at weaning (P < 0.05), 4) significantly increased the serum concentrations of IgM and sIgA in piglets, and sIgA in fecal sample of gilts (P < 0.05), and 5) tended to increase the pregnancy success rate (P> 0.05) in the treatment group compared to the control group. These results suggest that maternal COS intervention in gilts can improve gilt milk production, piglet pre-weaning growth and immunity parameters in both gilts and piglets. (C) 2020, Chinese Association of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available