Sodium-butyrate as a growth promoter in milk replacer formula for young calves

Abstract

In milk-fed calves, the effects of sodium-butyrate (Na-butyrate) to replace flavomycin on growth performance and some mechanisms involved were studied. Pancreatic and intestinal morphology, digestive enzyme activities, plasma gut regulatory peptide concentrations, and expression of their receptors in the gastrointestinal tract were measured. Gastrointestinal tract defense systems were examined by measuring protein levels of 2 heat-shock proteins (HSP27 and HSP70). The calves were randomly allocated into 2 groups fed the same basic diet with flavomycin as an antimicrobial growth promoter or with Na-butyrate (3 g/kg of dry matter). Sodium-butyrate disappeared quickly in the upper gut and was not found in circulating blood. Supplementation with Na-butyrate enhanced growth rate and improved feed conversion into body weight gain compared with the flavomycin group. Supplementation with Na-butyrate was likely associated with an improvement in efficacy of the gastrointestinal tract digestive capacities expressed by enhanced production of digestive enzymes and increased absorptive capacities in the upper small intestine. The effects could have been controlled by insulin-like growth factor-1 but probably not by any of the cholecystokinin/gastrin peptide family. Concentrations of HSP27 and HSP70 were increased in stomach and colon of calves receiving Na-butyrate, thereby assuring protection of cells with intensive metabolism (chaperone function). In conclusion, beneficial effects of Na-butyrate on maturation of gastrointestinal functions were shown in milk-fed calves and may be applied to young mammals of other species.

From the gut to the peripheral tissues: the multiple effects of butyrate

“…Guilloteau et al (8) did not observe any changes in plasma butyrate concentration in the peripheral circulation in calves. Nevertheless, the concentration of butyrate in the portal vein may vary according to the diet.…”

“…Calves supplemented with low doses of sodium butyrate showed a significantly increased mitotic index in the upper jejunum but not in the duodenum or ileum as compared with controls (8) . However, changes in the mitotic index were not reflected in villi length and tunica mucosa thickness.…”

“…First, included at a low dose in the diet (0·3 % of DM), butyrate disappears from the upper GIT (mainly in the stomach). It is thought to be metabolised in the GIT wall because it is not found in blood (8,94) . Nevertheless, when ingested with the diet, in specific conditions, butyrate would be measurable in peripheral blood (95) and seems to be able to act on peripheral organs (skeletal muscle, brown adipose tissue, liver, etc).…”

“…In unfed pigs with an intracaecal perfusion of [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] ]C-butyrate, the parietal utilisation of butyrate varied from 60 to 120 mmol/min when the concentration of perfused [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] ]C-butyrate varied from 0 to 160 mmol/min (L Martin, unpublished results).…”

“…In all tissues butyrate is a natural component of cellular metabolism. It may also act as a growth promoter when added to diets at low doses (0·1 -0·5 g/kg) (8) .…”