Effect of dried roots of <i>Astragalus membranaceus</i> in the diets of young growing pigs on growth performance and immune function

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of Astragalus powder prepared by using different comminution techniques on growth performance and immune function of pigs. Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire young growing pigs (n=90, female, 60 days of age, liveweight 21.88 ± 1.26 kg) were randomly allocated to three treatments. Each treatment had three replicates with ten pigs per pen. The basal diets were not supplemented or supplemented (5 g/kg) with 80 mesh Astragalus (180 μm), or micron Astragalus (6.32 μm), respectively; the feeding experiment lasted 30 days. After completion of the feeding experiment, three animals from each treatment were chosen to determine the effect of Astragalus on immune function. Results showed that supplementation with micron Astragalus significantly increased (P<0.05) average daily gain (ADG), both Concanavalin (ConA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced splenocyte and peripheral lymphocyte proliferation, and significantly increased (P<0.05) serum IgG, IgA, IL-1α and IL-2 concentrations compared with the control groups. Supplementation with 80 mesh Astragalus only increased (P<0.05) serum IgA, IL-1α and IL-2 concentrations compared with control. The results indicated that micron Astragalus was more effective than 80 mesh Astragalus in improving growth performance and enhancing immune function of pigs.

Effects of Astragalus membranaceus, Codonopsis pilosula and allicin mixture on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, faecal microbial shedding, immune response and meat quality in finishing pigs

“…In this study, pigs fed HM supplementation diet had higher IgG and IgA concentrations compared with CON treatment at week 12, which is in agreement with Hu et al. (), who indicated that the supplementation of Astragalus membranaceus increased the IgA and IgG concentrations. Mao et al.…”

The effects of supplementing diets with <i>Atractylodes macrocephala</i> Koidz rhizomes on growth performance and immune function in piglets

“…The current results suggest that baizhu did improve growth performance and that this effect depended on the preparation technique. In our previous research we found that micronized Astragalus significantly increased the ADG of young growing pigs (Hu et al, 2006).…”

“…Those results indicated that the medicinal efficiency of AMK is related to its effective ingredient. In our previous research we found that Astragalus membranaceus prepared with different comminution techniques has significantly different effects on immune function and growth performance in young growing pigs, which may be related to the bioavailability of the effective ingredients (Hu et al, 2006).…”

Anti-candidal activity of Astragalus verus in the in vitro and in vivo guinea pig models of cutaneous and systemic candidiasis

“…The improvement of cutaneous candidiasis following topical application of aqueous extract of Av may be related to the boosting of immune systems. The immunostimulating activity of Astragalus species has been subject of several studies (Kong et al, 2004;Hu et al, 2006). Twenty-eight patients with systemic lupus erythematosus had significantly decreased natural killer cell activity when compared to normal controls.…”