Effects of yeast-derived protein vs spray-dried porcine plasma supplementation on growth performance, metabolism and immune response of weanling piglets

Abstract

A total of 160 weaned pigs (PIC 327×1050, 7.35±0.50 kg body weight) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: i) control, a basal diet; ii) spray-dried porcine plasma (SDPP) diet, basal diet containing 4% SDPP; iii) SDPP plus yeast-deprived protein (YP) diet, basal diet containing 2% SDPP and 2% YP; and iv) YP diet, basal diet containing 4% YP. During the first week, average daily feed intake in piglets fed SDPP diet was markedly higher than piglets fed basal diet (+10%, P<0.05) and YP diet (+12%, P<0.05), but incidence of scour was higher than that in piglets fed YP diet. As a result, average daily gain (ADG) in piglets fed SDPP diet was similar to other groups, but ADG in piglets fed SDPP plus YP diet was higher than that in piglets fed basal diet (+13%, P<0.05). Serum levels of urea nitrogen and triglyceride were significantly decreased in piglets fed diet containing SDPP or YP relative to piglets fed basal diet (16~54% lower, P<0.05). Moreover, feeding YP diet markedly decreased serum levels of cortisol (relative to basal and SDPP plus YP diet, P<0.05) and C-reactive protein (relative to other groups, P<0.05) at d 7 post-weaning. Based on the results of this experiment, SDPP and partially substituting SDPP by YP are beneficial for growth performance of piglets, which may be ascribed to the improved metabolic status and humoral immune response. Moreover, weaning stress-related parameters were profoundly reduced by feeding YP diet. © L. Hu et al.