Effects of Macleaya cordata extract supplementation in milk on growth performance, some biochemical parameters and a number of selected bacterial groups of the recto-anal microbiota of calves

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of milk Macleaya cordata extract supplementation on the weight gain, feed intake, serum total protein (TP), albumin, globulin, IgG, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), triglyceride (TG), beta-hydroxy butyric acid (BHBA) levels, alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels and total aerobic, lactobacillus and coliform bacterial counts of recto-anal swabs in Simmental calves. The feeding study was carried out using 20 (n = 10) 4-day-old Simmental calves (average birth weight 45.55 ± 1.53 kg) from December 2017 to May, 2018. The experimental treatments comprised milk without any additive (control) and milk with 1 g M. cordata extract added per head per day. The calves were fed with only colostrum until 4 days of age and then with 5 liters per day of whole milk until the end of 65 days. At the end of the study, a significant difference in body weights and feed efficiency between the groups was not observed. During the 4th-6th weeks of the trial, M. cordata extract supplementation in milk decreased the feed intake of the calves. The serum TP, albumin, IgG, BHBA, TG, BUN, ALP and ALT levels were also found to be not statistically different between the treatment groups. At the end of the experiment the serum albumin and BHBA levels were increased, whereas the BUN levels were decreased. There was a significant effect of the group × sex interaction on the serum AST levels. The total aerobic, total coliforms, and lactobacillus bacterial counts of the recto-anal swabs were not different between the experimental groups. In conclusion, the present data demonstrated that supplementation of pre-weaning calves’ milk with M. cordata at 1 g per day did not improve growth performance but changed their metabolic status.