The effects of creep feeding and different levels of soybean meal (SBM) and cowpea meal on the intestinal morphology and faecal characteristics were investigated in weaners. Prior to the feeding trial, one group of piglets was creep-fed and the other noncreep-fed. The two groups of piglets were weaned at 28 days and randomly assigned to four different diets whose main sources of protein were: T,-skimmed milk powder (control); T2-31 % soybean meal; T3-15 % soybean meal and 12 % skimmed milk powder; and T, -lOO % raw cowpea meal. Live weight gain was highest in the T1 group, and least in the T, group. At weaning only the noncreepfed weaners showed villus atrophy and crypt hyperplasia, but at 7 days postweaning these changes were evident in all groups except the control and were more severe in the noncreep (T2, T,) and cowpea-fed groups. At 21 days postweaning, only noncreep cowpea-fed pigs showed a reduced villus height when compared to the T, group. A mild diarrhoea was generally observed in all noncreep-fed weaners but its onset was more rapid (P < 0.01) and the duration longer (P < 0.05) in the Tz and T, pigs than in T, and TI groups. A lower faecal p H was observed in weaners that had diarrhoea when compared with a pH of 7.1 in pigs with normal moisture. The glucose content of the faeces was found to be significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the T, and T, groups. The observations of enteropathology and low growth performance in the T, group suggest that feeding raw cowpea to weaners is capable of inducing considerable antigenicity in the intestinal mucosa, causing damage and a consequent decrease in productivity. However, the introduction of creepfeeding before weaning appears to have some ameliorative effects.US. Copyright Clearance Center Code Statement: 093 1 -184X /96 /4302 -0075S11.50 /O

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alpha-Trinositol (D-myo-inositol 1,2,6-trisphosphate, PP56) is a novel antiinflammatory drug. This study elucidates the effect of intravenous alpha-trinositol on basal and acute fluid transport and morphological changes following cholera toxin administration in pig jejunum in vivo. Using isolated jejunal tied-off loops, the fluid hypersecretory (accumulation) effect of different doses of cholera toxin was studied in pigs treated intravenously with saline added different doses (0, 4, 8, 16 and 32 mg x kg-1 x hr-1) of alpha-trinositol. Levels of alpha-trinositol, as well as stereomicroscopical, light microscopical and scanning electron microscopical morphological studies were performed. Cholera toxin evoked a dose-dependent fluid hypersecretion. Treatment with alpha-trinositol caused a dose-dependent inhibition of the cholera toxin-induced fluid hypersecretion and did not affect basal fluid absorption. The 16 mg x kg-1 x hr-1 alpha-trinositol dose gave a maximal inhibition of 36%. Morphological studies showed only minor changes following 6 hr of exposure to 20 micrograms x loop-1 cholera toxin. These changes consisted of dilation of the villus capillaries, an increase of apical membrane blebbing and a reduction of the intercellular space. Treatment with 16 mg x kg-1 x hr-1 alpha-trinositol alone did not induce any morphological changes, and did not alter the morphological changes induced by cholera toxin, which caused fluid hypersecretion and only minor acute morphological changes. In conclusion, alpha-trinositol treatment reduced cholera toxin-induced fluid hypersecretion without altering basal fluid absorption, basal morphology, or cholera toxin-induced morphological changes in pig jejunum in vivo.

Ulceration of the gastric <em>pars oesophagea</em> is a common problem in intensive pig production that is often detected at slaughter. A survey was carried out at the Pietersburg abattoir in the Northern Province during a 6-month period. In total, 4320 pig stomachs were examined. Gastro-oesophageal ulcers were observed in 5.1 % of the stomachs, gastric erosion in 15.2 %, and hyperkeratosis in 18.9 %. Time of slaughter was found to affect the prevalence of gastric lesions in the pig