Affiliation:
1. Key Laboratory of Marine Eco‐Environmental Science and Technology, First Institute of Oceanography Ministry of Natural Resources Qingdao China
2. Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Science Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao) Qingdao China
3. Department of Clinical Laboratory Qilu Hospital (Qingdao) of Shandong University Qingdao China
4. Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, School of Basic Medicine Qingdao University Qingdao China
Abstract
AbstractBlidingia sp. is a prominent fouling green macroalga and we previously found that extracts from Blidingia sp. alleviated intestinal inflammation in mice challenged with lipopolysaccharides. However, whether these extracts are effective in weanling piglets remains unknown. In the present study, Blidingia sp. extracts were supplemented in the diet and their effects on growth performance, incidence of diarrhoea and intestinal function in weanling piglets were explored. The results showed that diets supplemented with 0.1% or 0.5% Blidingia sp. extract significantly increased average daily body weight gain and feed intake in weanling piglets. Meanwhile, piglets supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extract showed decreased incidence of diarrhoea as well as reduced fecal water and Na+ content. Furthermore, the diet supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extracts improved intestinal morphology, as indicated by the results of hematoxylin and eosin staining. Diet supplemented with 0.5% Blidingia sp. extracts also improved tight junction function, as indicated by increased expression of Occludin, Claudin‐1 and Zonula occludens‐1, and alleviated the inflammatory response, as indicated by decreased tumor necrosis factor‐α and interleukin‐6 (IL6) contents and increased IL10 levels. Taken together, our results showed that Blidingia sp. extracts had beneficial effects in weanling piglets and we suggest that Blidingia sp. extracts could be potentially used as an additive for piglets.
Subject
Animal Science and Zoology,Food Animals