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Effects of Copper-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles on Intestinal Microflora and Morphology in Weaned Piglets

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Abstract

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with copper-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CNP-Cu) on growth performance, intestinal microflora, and morphology in weaned piglets. A number of 90 weaned piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire), weaned at 21 days with body weight of 7.2 ± 0.81 kg, were randomly divided into three groups by weight and sex, each treatment including three replicates of ten pigs. The piglets were fed the same basal diet supplemented with 0 (the control group), 100 mg/kg CNP-Cu, and 100 mg/kg chlortetracycline (the positive group). The results showed that 100 mg/kg CNP-Cu significantly increased average daily gain and feed intake and decreased feed/gain ratio and diarrhea rate (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the amount of Escherichia coli in duodenum, jejunal, and caecum were significantly decreased by 100 mg/kg CNP-Cu; the number of lactobacillus in jejunal and caecum were increased (P < 0.05), and the amount of bifidobacterium in duodenum and caecum were also increased (P < 0.05). Moreover, the villous height of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum mucosa was significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the crypt depth was significantly decreased (P < 0.05). The results indicated that CNP-Cu is beneficial to growth and intestinal microflora and morphology and could be a potential substitution of chlortetracycline in diets of weaned piglets.

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Acknowledgments

This article was financially supported by Scientific and Technological Key Project of Zhejiang Province, China (No. 2008C12048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Science College of Zhejiang University, The Key Laboratory of Molecular Animal Nutrition of the Ministry of Education, Yuhang Tang Road 866, Hangzhou, 310058, Zhejiang, China

    Min-Qi Wang, Yong-Jie Du, Chao Wang, Wen-Jing Tao, Yu-Dan He & Hui Li

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  1. Min-Qi Wang
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  2. Yong-Jie Du
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Correspondence to Min-Qi Wang.

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Wang, MQ., Du, YJ., Wang, C. et al. Effects of Copper-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles on Intestinal Microflora and Morphology in Weaned Piglets. Biol Trace Elem Res 149, 184–189 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-012-9410-0

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