Assessment of dietary spirulina supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and intestinal health in lipopolysaccharide-challenged weanling pigs.

ABSTRACT: The intestinal health of weanling pigs is often compromised by harmful bacterial agents, leading to inflammation and reduced intestinal integrity. Limited research exists on the effects of spirulina as a bioactive feed additive on weanling pigs. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effect of spirulina on the growth performance and intestinal health of pigs using a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge model. On d 0, 128 pigs were assigned to one of four groups in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments with 2 levels each of spirulina (0 or 5 g SP/kg) and LPS (challenge or no-challenge). There were 8 replicate pens per treatment and 4 pigs per pen. On d 7, pigs were weighed, and pigs in the LPS challenge group were intraperitoneally injected with 100 µg/kg body weight LPS. The other

SUBMITTER: Alagbe EO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12569516 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature