Article

Dietary coated copper and zinc improve growth performance by modulating immune responses and fecal microbiota of weaned pigs

Jinuk Nam1, Hyunjin Kyoung1, Yonghee Kim1, Jinho Cho2, Jinmu Ahn1, Kimoon Kim1, Ikcheol Shin1, Sheena Kim3, Jin Tae Kim4, Sung Woo Jung5, Hyeun Bum Kim3,*, Minho Song1,**
Author Information & Copyright
1Division of Animal and Dairy Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea.
2Department of Animal Science, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Korea.
3Department of Animal Resources Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea.
4AGRANCO Corp, Florida 33134, United States.
5ACC Inc, Seongnam 13647, Korea.
*Corresponding Author: Hyeun Bum Kim, Department of Animal Resources Science, Dankook University, Cheonan 31116, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: hbkim@dankook.ac.kr.
**Corresponding Author: Minho Song, Division of Animal and Dairy Science, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Korea, Republic of. E-mail: mhsong@cnu.ac.kr.

© Copyright 2024 Korean Society of Animal Science and Technology. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

In the swine industry, supplementation with high levels of zinc oxide and copper sulfate in the weaner diet could be excreted through feces without being normally absorbed in the intestine, resulting in environmental pollution. Therefore, the various forms have been proposed to address this issue. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a low dietary dose of coated copper sulfate (CuSO<sub>4</sub>) and zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth performance, frequency of diarrhea, nutrient digestibility, and immune responses of weaned pigs. The four dietary treatments were (1) a basal weaner diet based on corn and soybean meal (CON), (2) CON supplemented with 2,500 ppm standard ZnO (T1), (3) CON supplemented with 100 mg/kg dietary coated CuSO<sub>4</sub> and 100 mg/kg dietary coated ZnO (T2), and (4) CON supplemented with 200 mg/kg dietary coated CuSO<sub>4</sub> and 200 mg/kg dietary coated ZnO (T3). Dietary T2 and T3 increased (<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.05) the average daily gain for the first two weeks and the overall experimental period compared to that with CON. In addition, the groups supplemented with Cu and Zn tended to have a decreased (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.10) frequency of diarrhea. Pigs fed dietary T2 and/or T3 had lower (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.10) number of white blood cells on day 7 and hematocrit on day 14 compared to those fed CON. However, no difference was observed in the number of red blood cells among the dietary treatments. Regarding immune responses, dietary T2 decreased (<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.10) serum tumor necrosis factor-α on day 7 and increased (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.10) immunoglobulin G on day 14 compared with CON. Moreover, pigs fed dietary T2 tended to have increased <italic>Limosilacatobacilus </italic>(<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.10). Dietary T3 had higher (<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.05) relative abundance of the genus <italic>Agathobacter</italic> compared to those fed CON and dietary T1 and decreased (<italic>p </italic>&lt; 0.05) genus <italic>Terrisporobacter </italic>compared to those fed dietary T1. These results suggested the supplementation of dietary coated ZnO and CuSO<sub>4 </sub>enhanced growth performance and modulated immune responses associated with changes in the fecal microbiota composition

Keywords: Copper; Growth performance; Immune response; Microbiota; Weaned pigs; Zinc