Zinc oxide nanoparticles as a substitute for zinc oxide or colistin sulfate: Effects on growth, serum enzymes, zinc deposition, intestinal morphology and epithelial barrier in weaned piglets

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of zinc oxide nanoparticles (nano-ZnOs) as a substitute for colistin sulfate (CS) and/or zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth performance, serum enzymes, zinc deposition, intestinal morphology and epithelial barrier in weaned piglets. A total of 216 crossbred Duroc×(Landrace×Yorkshire) piglets weaned at 23 days were randomly assigned into 3 groups, which were fed with basal diets supplemented with 20 mg/kg CS (CS group), 20mg/kg CS+3000 mg/kg ZnO (CS+ZnO group), and 1200 mg/kg nano-ZnOs (nano-ZnO group) for 14 days. Results indicated that compared to CS group, supplementation of 1200 mg/kg nano-ZnOs (about 30 nm) significantly increased final body weight and average daily gain, and 3000 mg/kg ZnO plus colistin sulfate significantly increased average daily gain and decreased diarrhea rate in weaned piglets. There was no significant difference in growth performance and diarrhea rate between nano-ZnO and CS+ZnO groups. Supplementation of nano-ZnOs did not affect serum enzymes (glutamic oxalacetic transaminase, glutamic-pyruvic transaminase, and lactate dehydrogenase), but significantly increased plasma and tissue zinc concentrations (liver, tibia), improved intestinal morphology (increased duodenal and ileal villus length, crypt depth, and villus surface), enhanced mRNA expression of ZO-1 in ileal mucosa, and significantly decreased diamine oxidase activity in plasma, total aerobic bacterial population in MLN as compared to CS group. Effects of nano-ZnOs on serum enzymes, intestinal morphology, and mRNA expressions of tight junction were similar to those of high dietary ZnO plus colistin sulfate, while nano-ZnOs significantly reduced zinc concentrations of liver, tibia, and feces, and decreased total aerobic bacterial population in MLN as compared to CS+ZnO group. These results suggested that nano-ZnOs (1200 mg/kg) might be used as a substitute for colistin sulfate and high dietary ZnO in weaned piglets.

Microbial synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles and their potential application as an antimicrobial agent and a feed supplement in animal industry: a review

“…Moreover, evidence has indicated that ZnO NPs exhibit potential applications in the poultry and livestock industries, particularly as a feed supplement in the animal’s diet [9]. Numerous studies have been carried out to verify the potential use of ZnO NPs as dietary supplement in improving the growth performances [20–22], increase in the bioavailability of zinc [23, 24], enhancing the immune response [18, 25, 26], enhancing the antioxidative property [25, 27] and also improving the egg qualities and productions of layer chicken [24, 25, 28]. Nevertheless, to date, data on the use of ZnO NPs produced by microbial synthesis for the applications in animal feed has been scant.…”

“…The emergence of nanotechnology associated with nanoscale has improved the bioavailability and utilization efficiency of trace elements in animal’s diets [145]. Recently, ZnO NPs have been prominently studied on their effects in animal production and their potential application as a dietary supplement as an alternative to the conventional zinc [22, 142, 146, 147]. Due to their small size, ZnO NPs have been introduced into animal feed to increase and improve the absorption rate of zinc in the gastrointestinal tract, which would increase the uptake of zinc and bioavailability in the animal’s body [19, 24] .…”

Biosynthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles by cell-biomass and supernatant of Lactobacillus plantarum TA4 and its antibacterial and biocompatibility properties

“…Currently, researchers are focusing on the development of NPs as an alternative to antibiotics due to the increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria. On the other hand, ZnO NPs are also used as a feed supplement in animal diet 7 – 11 . Zinc is an essential trace element that plays a very important role in the body’s biological function 12 .…”

Green Synthesis of High Impact Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles

“…As a result of this very small size (high surface area), there have high absorption, reactivity and efficiency than conventional zinc. So, these can be used at very lower doses compared to conventional zinc to enhance the animal performance, immunity, reproduction, act as antimicrobial agent and reducing environmental contamination [2,6,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Numerous techniques have been evolved for the synthesis of ZnO in nano form such as vapour-liquid-solid (VLS) [28], pulsed laser deposition [29], electro chemical deposition [30], metal vapour transport [31,32], chemical vapour deposition [33], metal organic chemical vapour deposition [34]; the hydrothermal growth approach [35], Mechano-Chemical Method [36], chemical precipitation method [37],and sol-gel method [38,39].…”