Effects of dietary supplementation with herbal extract mixture on growth performance, organ weight and intestinal morphology in weaning piglets

Abstract

Background Many countries are increasingly prohibiting the addition of antibiotics in livestock diets. Therefore, herb extracts have gradually drawn attention to substitute antibiotics. Our present study aimed to determine the effects of herbal extract mixture (HEM) in dietary on growth performance, organ weight, intestinal morphology and intestinal nutrient transporters in weaned pigs. Methods 27 piglets (Duroc × [Landrace × Yorkshire]; Body Weight (BW) = 5.99 ± 0.13 kg) were weaned at day 21 and randomly divided into three groups (n = 9 piglets/group). All piglets received a basal diet containing similar amounts of nutrients for 14 days. The three groups were the control (no additive), the antibiotics (375 mg/kg chlortetracycline, 20%, 500 mg/kg enramycin, 4%, 1,500 mg/kg oxytetracycline calcium, 50%) and the HEM group (1000 mg/kg extract mixture of golden‐and‐silver honeysuckle, huangqi, duzhong leaves and dangshen). After 14 d of treatment, we collected tissue samples to measure organ weight, intestinal parameters, intestinal morphology, digestive enzyme activities and intestinal mRNA expression of nutrient transporters. Results The HEM group had no effects on growth performance and organ weight of weaned pigs. But compared with the control group, both HEM and antibiotics improved intestinal morphology, and HEM elevated the expression of nutrient transporters in ileum (SLC6A9, SLC15A1, and SLC5A1). HEM significantly decreased the activities of maltase in ileum and the ratio of small intestinal weight to BW than control group. Conclusions These results indicate benefit effects of the supplementation of HEM in diet, including modulating intestinal morphology and increasing the mRNA expression of nutrients transporters. These findings suggest that HEM provides novel insights into a variety of herbal extract mixtures to replace antibiotics in animal production.

Effect of Dietary Supplementation With Mixed Organic Acids on Immune Function, Antioxidative Characteristics, Digestive Enzymes Activity, and Intestinal Health in Broiler Chickens

“…Also, numerous scholars have illustrated the mechanism of MOA and summarized the benefits of MOA in livestock and poultry (4,17), especially in weaning pigs (7,8). The inconsistent results often occurred concerning the effects of MOA, although MOA always performed a positive impact (18,19). In our paper, we focused on the serum immune function, antioxidant capacity, pH value, tight junction, and microbiota of intestine in 21 and 42 d broilers in terms of their being affected by dietary supplemented with MOA at different levels, which would be helpful in determining the appropriate level of MOA and in confirming whether MOA plays a role on intestine regarding antioxidant systems, digestive enzyme activity, mechanical barrier, etc.…”

Herbal Extract Mixture Modulates Intestinal Antioxidative Capacity and Microbiota in Weaning Piglets

“…The combination of these plant extracts ( Lonicera japonica, Astragalus membranaceus , Eucommia folium , and Codonopsis pilosula ) has not been fully investigated in weaning piglets. Moreover, our previous study has shown that dietary supplementation of the herbal extract mixture (HEM), which contains golden-and-silver honeysuckle ( Lonicera japonica ), huangqi ( Astragalus membranaceus ), duzhong leaves ( Eucommia folium ), and dangshen ( Codonopsis pilosula ), improves intestinal morphology through increasing the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the duodenum, and elevates the mRNA expression of nutrient transporters in the ileum of weaning piglets ( Wang et al, 2020 ). Thus, in the present study, we aimed to further investigate the effects of HEM on the antioxidant capacity and colonic microbiota of weaning piglets.…”

Potential Application of Lonicera japonica Extracts in Animal Production: From the Perspective of Intestinal Health

“…Meanwhile, L. japonica extract can improve rumen microbial diversity and improve rumen fermentation capacity ( Tang et al, 2018a ). In pig production, herbal extract mixture (HEM) may have a better application effect ( Liu W. et al, 2016 ; Wang M. et al, 2020 ). For instance, Liu W. et al (2016) indicated that dietary supplementation with a mixture of 55% Scutellaria baicalensis extract and 25% L. japonica extract administration could improve growth performance and nutrient digestibility, decrease serum cortisol levels, as well as benefit the meat quality in finishing pigs, and Wang Y. et al (2020) showed that dietary supplementation with 1,000 mg/kg a mixture extract of golden-and-silver honeysuckle ( L. japonica Thunb.…”