131 Alleviation of piglet allergic reaction to soybean meal via supplementation with protease

Abstract

Two experiments were conducted to determine the effects of protease supplementation on degradation of soybean meal (SBM) allergenic proteins (glycinin and β-conglycinin) and gut health of weaned pigs fed SBM-based diets. In Experiment 1, two SBM samples (SBM1 and SBM2) from 2 different sources were subjected to porcine in vitro gastric degradation to determine the effects of protease (at 15,000 units/kg) on degradation of the soybean allergenic proteins. In Experiment 2, forty-eight weaned pigs (BW = 6.66 kg) were obtained in 2 batches of 24 pigs each. Pigs were individually housed in metabolic crates and fed 4 diets (12 pigs/diet). The diets were corn-based diet with SBM1 or SBM2 without or with protease at 15,000 units/kg in 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Diets were fed for 10 days at the end of which the pigs were sacrificed for measurement of small intestinal histomorphology, permeability of small intestine mounted in Ussing chambers, and serum concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines. The SBM1 and SBM2 contained 46.9 and 47.7% CP, 14.0 and 14.6% glycinin, and 9.90 and 10.3% β-conglycinin, respectively. Protease and SBM source did not interact on any of the response criteria measured in this study. Protease supplementation tended to increase (P = 0.069) the in vitro gastric degradation of glycinin by 20%. Protease supplementation tended to reduce (P = 0.099) fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran 4,000 Da (which is a marker probe for intestinal permeability) flow in jejunum by 33%, and reduced (P = 0.037) serum TNF-α concentration by 16%. Protease did not affect small intestinal histomorphology. In conclusion, protease increased gastric degradation of glycinin, and reduced gut permeability and serum concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokine, indicating that the protease used in the current study can be added in diets for weaned pigs to improve gut health of weaned pigs fed SBM-based diets.