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Effects of Different Sources of Organic Chromium on Immune Function in Weaned Pigs |
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L. Tang, Defa Li, F. L. Wang, J. J. Xing, L. M. Gong |
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| Abstract |
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A five-week trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic chromium from different sources on growth performance, immune response and serum parameters of weaned pigs. One hundred and eighty Tianjin white pigs weaned at 35 1 days of age, were allotted to three treatments with six replicates and10 pigs per pen. Pigs were fed corn-soybean-whey-fishmeal basal diets with either no supplemental Cr, 200 g/kg Cr as chromium picolinate (CrPi), or 200 g/kg Cr as chromium yeast (Cr-yeast). To assess humoral immune response, all pigs were immunized with swine fever virus on day 21 and two pigs from each pen were immunized with pure albumin on day 14. Cell-mediated immunity was measured by determining the double skinfold thickness (DST) of two pigs from each pen before and 24h after stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) on day 28. The results indicated that: (1) diets with Cr-yeast increased average daily gain (ADG, p<0.05) and tended to increase average daily feed intake (ADFI, p<0.10). Diets with CrPi did not increase ADG and ADFI (p>0.05). (2) Dietary CrPi or Cr-yeast supplementation did not affect blood urea nitrogen, glucose, or cholesterol (p>0.05), but blood urea nitrogen in CrPi and Cr-yeast supplemented groups and blood glucose in the Cr-yeast supplemented group were significantly influenced by sampling days (p<0.05). (3) Serum proteins (TP, ALB, and GLB) were influenced by sampling days (p<0.05), but not by dietary Cr treatment (p>0.10). (4) There were no significant differences among treatments in the titers of albumin antibody and swine fever virus antibody (p>0.05) or DST before and after PHA stimulation (p>0.05), indicating that organic chromium has no significant effect on the immune function of weaning pigs. Therefore, these results agree with other research that the effects of supplemental Cr are variable in weanling pigs. |
| Keywords:
Chromium Picolinate; Chromium Yeast; Immune Function; Weaned Pig |
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