Effects of chitosan nanoparticle supplementation on growth performance, humoral immunity, gut microbiota and immune responses after lipopolysaccharide challenge in weaned pigs

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to determine the effects of dietary supplementation with chitosan nanoparticles (CNP) on growth performance, immune status, gut microbiota and immune responses after lipopolysaccharide challenge in weaned pigs. A total of 144 piglets were assigned to four groups receiving different dietary treatments, including basal diets supplemented with 0, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg CNP fed for 28 days. Each treatment group included six pens (six piglets per pen). The increase in supplemental CNP concentration improved the average daily gain (ADG) and decreased the feed and gain (F/G) and diarrhoea rate (p < .05). However, significant differences in the average daily feed intake (ADFI) among different CNP concentrations were not observed. CNP also increased plasma immunoglobulin (Ig)A and IgG, and C3 and C4 concentrations in piglets in a dose‐dependent manner on day 28, whereas IgM concentration was not affected by CNP. A total of 24 piglets in the control diet and control diet with 400 mg/kg CNP supplementation groups were randomly selected for the experiment of immunological stress. Half of the pigs in each group (n = 6) were injected i.p. with Escherichia coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS) at a concentration of 100 μg/kg. The other pigs in each group were injected with sterile saline solution at the same volume. Plasma concentrations of cortisol, prostaglandin E2 (PEG2), interleukin (IL)‐6, tumour necrosis factor (TNF)‐α and IL‐1β dramatically increased after LPS challenge. However, CNP inhibited the increase in cortisol, PEG2, IL‐6 and IL‐1β levels in plasma, whereas TNF‐α level slightly increased. Moreover, the effects of CNP on the gut microbiota were also evaluated. Our results showed that dietary supplementation with CNP modified the composition of colonic microbiota, where it increased the amounts of some presumably beneficial intestinal bacteria and suppressed the growth of potential bacterial pathogens. These findings suggested CNP supplementation improved the growth performance and immune status, alleviated immunological stress and regulated intestinal ecology in weaned piglets. Based on these beneficial effects, CNP could be applied as a functional feed additives supplemented in piglets diet.

Effects of Adding Nano-Chitosan on Productive Performance of Laying Hens

“…To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the effects of ChNP supplementation with size up to 17 nm in laying hens. These results are consistent with the results reported by Xu et al (2019) who showed that ChNPs might increase the presence of the useful bacterial species and reduce the pathogenic bacterial species. Conversely, Abd El-Naby et al (2019) found that ChNP supplementation in the diet of Oreochromis niloticus leads to the inhibition of the growth of intestinal bacterial assemblies.…”

“…However, knowledge of the effects of ChNP on laying hens is still relatively limited. These results are agreement with the results reported by Xu et al (2019) found that the addition of 200 or 400 mg/kg diet resulted in insignificant reduced feed intake compared to the control group of weaned pigs at 28 days; however, they reported that feed and weight gain were decreased (P<0.05) when the…”

“…These results are in agreement with the results reported by Miao et al (2020). Conversely, Xu et al (2019) reported that supplementation of 200 or 400 mg ChNP/kg diet leads to an increased plasma immunoglobulin concentration (IgG) in weaned pigs at 28 days, whereas IgM concentration was not affected by ChNP. Pigs fed with a basic diet containing 50 or 100 mg/kg of low molecular weight chitosan showed an increased levels of serum IgG and IgM compared to the control group, whereas IgA concentration was not affected Zhanga et al (2020).…”

Animal-Origin Prebiotics Based on Chitin: An Alternative for the Future? A Critical Review

“…Chitosan, a naturally occurring bioactive polymer (a copolymer of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucosamine) [48] is the most important chitin derivative, and has received increasing attention due to its specific biodegradability by colon bacteria, its well-documented biocompatibility, low toxicity and mutagenic properties [49]. Evidence has shown that chitosan possesses various biological activities, namely antioxidant, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, immunostimulant, wound healing, coadjutant (in aquatic animals), cholesterol-reducing, antibacterial and antifungal properties, and is useful as an active component of the diet for the loss of body fat.…”

Response of Intestinal Mucosal Microbiota in Diarrheal Mice to Ge-gen-qin-lian Decoction

“…Stimulation of IL-6 resulted in a maximal induction of NF-kB activation and NF-kB nuclear translocation [26] . Overall, IL-6 had the in uence on innate and adaptive immune responses, suggesting that dysfunction of its function could promote the progression of chronic diseases [27] . The distribution of EGFR in gastric mucosal epithelial cells was the most.…”