Effect of supplementing lactation and nursery pig diets with capsaicin on growth performance and gene expression of nursery pigs

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of supplementing capsaicin in diets for lactating sows and their offspring on the growth performance and gene expression of pigs post-weaning. Twenty-eight multiparous sows were fed corn-soybean meal-based diets without (n = 14) and with (n = 14) capsaicin (2.5 mg/kg) during a 19-d lactation period. Litters from these sows (n = 288 pigs) were weaned and assigned to 36 blocks (pens) based on maternal dietary treatment and initial body weight (BW) to provide 8 pigs/pen. Blocks were assigned randomly to one of two nursery dietary treatments (control or capsaicin supplemented diets) in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments to provide 9 replications per treatment combination. A 3-phase nursery feeding program was used and consisted of feeding phase 1 (weaning to d 7), phase 2 (d 8 to 21), and phase 3 (d 22 to 38) diets post-weaning, without and with 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 mg capsaicin per kg of diet, respectively. Data were analyzed using a mixed model with the effect of nursery dietary treatment nested within sow lactation treatment, the effect of time with repeated measures, and interactions between treatments and wk post-weaning. On d 38 post-weaning, blood samples were collected from one pig in each pen (n = 36) with BW closest to the pen average for RNA sequencing and gene expression analysis. There were no effects of feeding capsaicin diets to lactating sows and/or their weaned offspring on BW, average daily gain, or average daily feed intake of pigs during the 35-d nursery period. However, pigs weaned from sows fed capsaicin during lactation and continuing to be fed capsaicin diets during the nursery period tended (P = 0.09) to have greater gain:feed (G:F) than pigs fed the other dietary treatments. Furthermore, there was an interaction (P < 0.01) for G:F for dietary treatment and wk post-weaning, where the magnitude of improvement was greater during the first wk post-weaning than subsequent wks. There were a limited number of differentially expressed genes among dietary treatment combinations but the greatest number occurred in offspring from sows that were fed capsaicin during lactation. In conclusion, the combination of feeding capsaicin to sows during lactation and to their offspring after weaning appears to improve gain efficiency for the first wk post-weaning and may alter gene expression to a greater extent than when capsaicin is supplemented only in the nursery diets.

Effects of dietary capsaicin supplementation on growth performance, blood profile and carcass and meat quality of finishing pigs

“…The positive effect of CAP during this period may be due to higher feed utilization compared to the finisher period, because Sobolewska and Grela [20] found that the FCR of grower period was better than that of the finisher period. Accordingly, Rosa-Medina [7] found that dietary CAP increases the levels of digestive enzymes (amylase, protease and lipase) and digestibility of feed. Moreover, CAP reduces the demand of energy for maintenance because CAP activates the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptor in the nervous system and reduces metabolic stress [21].…”

“…The CAP (trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is a compound of lipophilic alkaloid [4], and up to 80% is passively absorbed in the segments of the stomach and the duodenum [5]. Several authors reported that the addition of CAP to pig diets significantly improved the small intestinal morphology of piglets [6] and increased the secretion of digestive enzymes through neurostimulatory activity [7]. According to other studies, CAP binds to heatsensing receptors and potentially reduces heat stress by manipulating cellular metabolism [1,7], providing antioxidant activity [8], and improving passive immunity [9].…”

“…Several authors reported that the addition of CAP to pig diets significantly improved the small intestinal morphology of piglets [6] and increased the secretion of digestive enzymes through neurostimulatory activity [7]. According to other studies, CAP binds to heatsensing receptors and potentially reduces heat stress by manipulating cellular metabolism [1,7], providing antioxidant activity [8], and improving passive immunity [9]. However, there are few studies on the effects of using CAP in the diet of fattening pigs on carcass and meat quality.…”