Functional amino acid supplementation postweaning mitigates the response of normal birth weight more than for low birth weight pigs to a subsequent Salmonella challenge.

Previous work has shown that dietary supplementation with key functional amino acids (FAA) improves growth performance and immune status of disease-challenged normal birth weight (NBW) pigs. It is not known whether FAA supplementation attenuates the effects of a subsequent disease challenge or whether this response is similar in low birth weight (LBW) pigs. The objective was to determine the effects of birth weight and FAA supplementation during the postweaning period in Salmonella-challenged pigs. Thirty-two LBW (1.08 ± 0.11 kg) and NBW (1.58 ± 0.11 kg) pigs were assigned to a nursery feeding program at weaning (25 d) for 31 days in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Factors were birth weight category (LBW vs. NBW) and basal (FAA-) or supplemented FAA profile (FAA+; Thr, Met, and Trp at 120% of requirements). At d 31, pigs were placed onto a common grower diet and, after a 7-d adaptation period, were inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium (ST; 2.2 × 109 colony-forming units/mL) and monitored for 7-d postinoculation. Growth performance, rectal temperature, fecal score, indicators of gut health, ST shedding score in feces, intestinal ST colonization and translocation, and blood parameters of acute-phase response and antioxidant balance were measured pre- and postinoculation. Inoculation with ST increased temperature and fecal score, and the overall rectal temperature was higher in LBW compared to NBW pigs (P < 0.05). Postinoculation (d 7), reduced:oxidized glutathione was increased in NBW compared to LBW pigs (P < 0.05). Salmonella shedding and translocation to spleen were lower in NBW-FAA+ compared to NBW-FAA- pigs (P < 0.05). Postinoculation average daily gain was higher in NBW-FAA+ (P < 0.05) compared to the other groups. Postinoculation haptoglobin, superoxide dismutase, and colonic myeloperoxidase were increased in LBW-FAA- pigs (P < 0.05). Ileal alkaline phosphatase was decreased in LBW compared to NBW (P < 0.05). Overall, FAA supplementation represents a potential strategy to mitigate the effect of enteric disease challenge in NBW, but not LBW pigs.

Estimating fermentative amino acid catabolism in the small intestine of growing pigs.

Fermentative catabolism (FAAC) of dietary and endogenous amino acids (AA) in the small intestine contributes to loss of AA available for protein synthesis and body maintenance functions in pigs. A continuous isotope infusion study was performed to determine whole body urea flux, urea recycling and FAAC in the small intestine of ileal-cannulated growing pigs fed a control diet (CON, 18.6% CP; n=6), a high fibre diet with 12% added pectin (HF, 17.7% CP; n = 4) or a low-protein diet (LP, 13.4% CP; n = 6). (15)N-ammonium chloride and (13)C-urea were infused intragastrically and intravenously, respectively, for 4 days. Recovery of ammonia at the distal ileum was increased by feeding additional fibre when compared with the CON (P > 0.05) but was not affected by dietary protein (0.24, 0.39 and 0.14 mmol nitrogen/kg BW/day for CON, HF and LP, respectively; P < 0.05). Lowering protein intake reduced urea flux (25.3, 25.7 and 10.3 mmol nitrogen/kg BW/day; P < 0.01), urinary urea excretion (14.4, 15.0 and 6.2 mmol N/kg BW/day; P < 0.001) and urea recycling (12.1, 11.3 and 3.23 mmol nitrogen/kg BW/day; P< 0 .01) compared with CON. There was a rapid reduction in (15)N-ammonia enrichment in digesta along the small intestine suggesting rapid absorption of ammonia before the distal ileum and lack of uniformity of enrichment in the digesta ammonia pool. A two-pool model was developed to determine possible value ranges for nitrogen flux in the small intestine assuming rapid absorption of ammonia.Maximum estimated FAAC based on this model was significantly lower when dietary protein content was decreased (32.9, 33.4 and 17.4 mmol nitrogen/kg BW/day; P < 0.001). There was no impact of dietary fibre on estimates of small intestine nitrogen flux( P > 0.05)compared with CON. The two-pool model developed in the present study allows for estimation of FAAC but still has limitations. Quantifying FAAC in the small intestine of pigs, as well as other non-ruminants and humans, offers a number of challenges but warrants further investigation.