Effects of porcine bile acids on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, blood metabolites and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of porcine bile acids (BA) on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, blood metabolites and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs. One hundred and eighty pigs were assigned into five groups for 42 days. Pigs were fed a cornsoybean meal basal diet or a basal diet supplemented with 60, 80, 100 or 120 mg/kg BA. Six pigs per treatment were selected for blood sampling at days 28 and 42. Fresh fecal samples were collected from each pen from day 39-42. Supplementation with BA improved average daily gain (linear, P < 0.05; quadratic, P < 0.05) of pigs during days 29-42 and 1-42. From day 1-28, activities of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) were increased (P < 0.01) compared with the control treatment. Serum glutathione (GSH) content was elevated linearly and quadratically (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01) in response to BA supplementation. During day 29-42, activities of SOD (linear, P < 0.05; quadratic, P < 0.01) and GSH-Px (P < 0.01), and the levels of GSH (linear, P < 0.01; quadratic, P < 0.01) and total antioxidant capacity (TAOC) (P < 0.05) increased with increasing levels of BA supplementation. Moreover, pigs fed 80 and 100 mg/kg porcine BA had greater (P < 0.01) dry matter (DM), ether extract (EE) and gross energy (GE) digestibility compared to control-fed pigs. These results suggested that dietary supplementation with porcine BA can improve growth performance, antioxidant capacity and nutrient digestibility of weaned pigs.