Effects of alternative feed additives to medicinal zinc oxide on productivity, diarrhoea incidence and gut development in weaned piglets

Abstract

The use of medicinal zinc oxide (ZnO) must be phased out by 2022, thus prompting an urgent need for alternative strategies to prevent diarrhoea in weaner piglets. The objectives of this study were to assess the impact on weaner piglet performance, diarrhoea incidence and gut development, when (1) dietary ZnO supplementation was substituted by alternative commercial products based on macroalgae, specific probiotics or synbiotics, or (2) dietary ZnO inclusion was reduced from 2500 to 1500 ppm. A total of 4680 DLY piglets (DanBred, Herlev, Denmark), weaned around 35 days of age, were randomly assigned according to sex and BW to six different dietary treatment groups. A basal diet was supplemented with no ZnO (NC = negative control), 2500 ppm ZnO (PC = positive control), 1500 ppm ZnO (RDZ = reduced dose of ZnO) or commercial macroalgae (OceanFeed™ Swine = OFS), probiotic Miya-Gold or synbiotic GærPlus products. The piglets entered and exited the weaner unit at ~7.0 and 30 kg BW, respectively. In-feed ZnO was provided the first 10 days post-weaning, while the alternative supplements were fed throughout the weaner period. As expected, the average daily feed intake, average daily weight gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and diarrhoea incidence were improved in the PC compared to NC group (P < 0.05) during phase 1 consistent with improved indices of villi development observed in subgroups of piglets sacrificed 11 days post-weaning. Reduction of ZnO to 1500 ppm lowered ADG (P < 0.05) and slightly increased incidence of diarrhoea during the first 10 days after weaning (but not later) without affecting FCR. None of the three alternative dietary additives, including a 10-fold increased dose of GærPlus than recommended, improved piglet performance, gut health and gut development above that of NC piglets. The OFS piglets sacrificed 11 days after weaning had significantly lower weights of hindgut tissue and contents compared to the PC group, consistent with antimicrobial activity of the product, which was detected from anaerobic in vitro fermentation. In conclusion, dietary ZnO supplementation during the first 10 days post-weaning may be reduced from 2500 to 1500 ppm without major negative implications for weaner piglet performance and health in herds under a high management level. However, none of the alternative dietary supplements were able to improve piglet performance or gut health, when ZnO was omitted from the diet.

Reducing the Risk of Transmission of Critical Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants From Contaminated Pork Products to Humans in South-East Asia

“…This review outlines two applications for reduction of antibiotic use, including for growth promotion and disease prevention. An overview of possible antibiotic alternatives for growth promotion derived from previous studies is presented in Supplementary Table 1 (Cha et al, 2012;Kim et al, 2014;Yoon et al, 2014;Zeng et al, 2014;Devi et al, 2015;Gois et al, 2016;Hossain et al, 2016;Lee et al, 2016;Peng et al, 2016;Sbardella et al, 2016;Tang et al, 2016;Upadhaya et al, 2016;Wan et al, 2016;Lan et al, 2017;Lei et al, 2017;Ma et al, 2017;Pan et al, 2017;Wu et al, 2017;Huang et al, 2018;Lei et al, 2018;Samolińska et al, 2018;Sayan et al, 2018;Seo et al, 2018;Xu et al, 2018;Pei et al, 2019;San Andres et al, 2019;Wang et al, 2019;Duarte et al, 2020;Petry et al, 2020;Ren et al, 2020;Satessa et al, 2020;van der Peet-Schwering et al, 2020;Wei et al, 2020;Zhang et al, 2020;Sun et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021). These vary considerably from chemical compounds, biologically active substances, and microbially derived products.…”

Trace metals and animal health: Interplay of the gut microbiota with iron, manganese, zinc, and copper

“…Probiotics and prebiotics appear to be promising candidates for ZnO and in-feed antibiotic alternatives; however, the mechanisms involved in probiotic- and prebiotic-induced protection in the pig gut remain to be understood. Supplementation of lactic acid bacteria and fermented rapeseed meal induced similar or significant improvement of pig growth performance compared with zinc supplementation by improving mucosal development, inhibiting intestinal inflammation, and modulating the gut microbiota ( Satessa et al., 2020 ). Similar to ZnO supplementation, probiotic and prebiotic supplementation increased the abundance of Prevotella ( Satessa et al., 2020 ), which has been characterized as a resident gut commensal and a major contributor to polysaccharide breakdown in pigs ( Pajarillo et al., 2014a , Pajarillo et al., 2014b ).…”

“…In addition, all treatments including ZnO reduced Lactobacillus spp. in the pig gut ( Satessa et al., 2020 ), suggesting that other beneficial bacteria may promote gut immunity in pigs. Other studies have reported that ZnO increased Lactobacillus spp.…”

“…Copper deficiency can result from a rare genetic disorder known as Menkes disease, which can impair the development of connective tissues, muscles, and the brain. Deficiency of zinc is involved in a number of gastrointestinal disorders, including Crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome in humans ( Han et al., 2017 ; Higashimura et al., 2020 ), as well as gut dysbiosis in animals ( Satessa et al., 2020 ). Thus, metal deficiencies present serious health concerns in the human population and cause counterproductive problems in the animal industry.…”

“…(2014) Coated ZnO nanoparticles (100 mg/kg ZnO) Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire ↑richness (ACE and Chao1) ↑Lachnospiraceae UCG-004 ↓ Ruminococcus flavefaciens ↑occludin, zonula occludens-1 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing (Feces) Legrand et al. (2005) 2,500 mg/kg ZnO Landrace × Yorkshire ↑Shannon, evenness ↑ Prevotella , Clostridiaceae ↓ Lactobacillus ↑villus height, crypt depth, villi-to-crypt ratio, mucosal thickness 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing (Colon) Satessa et al. (2020) 110 and 2,400 mg/kg ZnO Topigs × Piétrain NA ↓Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms, ↑claudin-1, zonula occludens-1, alkaline phosphatase, gut integrity Plate-counting method and quantitative real-time PCR (Stomach, Small intestines) Wang et al.…”