Enhancement of protective vaccine-induced antibody titer to swine diseases and growth performance by Amino-Zn, yucca extract, and β-mannanase feed additive in wean-finishing pigs

Abstract

The primary purpose of this research is to determine the effect of Amino-Zn (AZn), Yucca schidigera extract (YE), and β-mannanase enzyme supplementation on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, fecal gas emission, and immune response in pigs. A total of 180 crossbred pigs (6.57 ± 1 kg) were randomly assigned to one of three dietary treatments: CON-corn soybean meal (basal diet); TRT1-CON +1,000 ppm AZn + 0.07% yucca extract (YE) + 0.05% β-mannanase; and TRT2-CON +2,000 ppm AZn + 0.07% YE+ 0.05% β-mannanase for 22 weeks. Each treatment had 12 replicates with 5 pigs per pen. Pigs fed a diet supplemented with AZn, YE, and β-mannanase linearly increased (p < 0.05) BW and average daily gain at weeks 6, 12, 17, and 18. In contrast, the gain-to-feed ratio showed a linear increase (p < 0.05) from weeks 6 to 17 and the overall trial period. Moreover, the inclusion of experimental diets linearly decreased (p > 0.05) noxious gas emissions such as ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, acetic acid, carbon dioxide, and methyl mercaptans. The dietary inclusion of AZn, YE, and β-mannanase significantly increased the serological immune responses to Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae (MH) and foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV-O type) at the end of week 6 and porcine circovirus-2 (PCV-2) at week 19. Based on this result, we infer that the combination of AZn, YE, and β-mannanase supplement would serve as a novel in-feed additive to enhance growth performance and act as a boosting agent and immune stimulatory to increase the efficacy of swine vaccinations.

Keywords: Amino-Zn; Yucca schidigera extract; antibody; pigs; vaccination; β-mannanase.

Figure 1

Schematic view of the experiment design.

Figure 2

Vaccination and blood collection schedule of pigs from weaning to finishing stage. A total of 180 pigs (12 replicates × 3 treatemet, with 5 pigs/pen) were vaccinated at different periods, and the blood samples were randomly drawn from n = 24/treatment.

Figure 3

Effects of dietary AZn, Yucca schidigera extract, and β-mannanase on growth performance of pigs at different growth stages. Data are presented as standard means of error. *, **, and *** indicate statistically significant at p < 0.05, p < 0.001, and p < 0.0001, respectively.