Table 4. Ileal morphology of weaned pigs fed diets with positive control (PC), negative control (NC), and NC + 0.02% dietary protease (PRO) supplementation diets1)
| Items | Dietary treatment2) | SEM | p-value |
| PC | NC | PRO | Diet |
| Goblet cells (n) | 11.27a | 10.84a | 15.77b | 1.08 | < 0.05 |
| Villus height (μm) | 294.89a | 233.79b | 322.95a | 19.27 | < 0.05 |
| Crypt depth (μm) | 88.25 | 93.88 | 92.40 | 6.32 | 0.811 |
| VH:CD (μm/μm) | 3.36a | 2.51b | 3.50a | 0.18 | < 0.05 |
| Villus width (μm) | 111.40 | 112.38 | 104.66 | 6.89 | 0.697 |
| Villus area (μm2) | 23,800 | 21,977 | 22,939 | 1,872 | 0.792 |
Each value is the mean of 5 replicates (6 pigs per pen).
PC, CP = 23.71% (phase1) and 22.36% (phase2); NC, 0.61% less CP than PC.
Means with different letters represent statistical significance (p < 0.05).
VH:CD, villus height to crypt depth ratio.