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On August 9 this year, the 4th National Lipid Nutrition Forum was successfully held in Beijing. Peng Rong, the manager of pig technology of Calid, made a keynote report on “Functional fatty acids reshape the health of pig herd” in the forum. She analyzed the application mechanism of functional fatty acids in pig health under the background of anti-antibiotics and anti-antibiotics reduction, and the functions of functional fatty acids in maintaining intestinal health, improving pig immunity, anti-bacteria and anti-virus, etc. She also shared the remarkable effect of Calid’s fatty acid balancing solutions, such as Ankesor® and Ankesen®, in reshaping pig health in production practice.
The following is a review of the highlights of Peng Rong’s presentation.
Gut health and herd health in the background of antibiotic ban and reduction of antibiotics
Disease prevention and control in the context of antibiotic control is a top priority for herd health management. For susceptible animals, both nutrition and gut health are needed.
The intestinal tract has the functions of digestion and absorption, flora balance and immune regulation, which is the key to the health and growth of livestock and poultry. 70%~80% of therapeutic antibiotics are used for the treatment of intestinal diseases during the breeding process.
Therefore, under the background of banning and reducing antibiotics, intestinal health is an important prerequisite for reducing the use of antibiotics, and it is crucial for breeding efficiency. Gut health is the source of herd health, and herd health is the basis of farming efficiency.
Physiological functions and mechanisms of functional fatty acids
Different chain length functional fatty acids have different physiological functions. In general, functional fatty acids have the functions of maintaining intestinal health, regulating body immunity and inhibiting body inflammation.
Mechanism of functional fatty acids on intestinal health
Short-chain fatty acids can provide energy for intestinal epithelial cells and promote the growth of intestinal villous membrane; improve intestinal morphology, maintain the stability of intestinal environment and balance intestinal flora; maintain the integrity of intestinal barrier function and prevent the occurrence of intestinal inflammation.
Medium-chain fatty acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids can regulate intestinal microbial metabolism and improve intestinal inflammation by altering intestinal microbial composition and abundance.
Functional fatty acid immunomodulatory mechanism
Short-chain fatty acids can participate in the regulation of body immunity by regulating gene expression, chemotaxis, differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis of immune cells. These regulations are mainly realized by activating G protein-coupled receptors and inhibiting histone deacetylase activity.
Medium-chain fatty acids activate GPR84 and promote the secretion of anti-inflammatory factors in phagocytes and immune cells, which play a key role in promoting T helper 1 (Th1)-driven immunity.
Anti-inflammatory mechanisms of functional fatty acids
Short-chain fatty acids inhibit LPS-induced inflammation by activating G protein-coupled receptors and inhibiting histone deacetylase activity. They can also inhibit the body’s inflammatory response by down-regulating the expression levels of pro-inflammatory factors secreted by relevant immune cells.
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids reduce intracellular AA and its induced eicosanoid inflammatory mediators. On the one hand, down-regulation of endotoxin- and cytokine-induced expression of peroxidase 2 and 5-lipoperoxidase, which produce the less efficient “3-series” prostaglandins and “5-series” leukotrienes, respectively, reduces the generation of AA products. On the other hand, by inhibiting the activity of phospholipase PLA2, the release of AA from phospholipid membranes is reduced, and the inflammatory response caused by AA-derived eicosanoids is minimized.
Practical application cases of functional fatty acids
Ankesor®
Ankesor® is a functional feed additive specially designed for solving the intestinal health problems of animals. It uses advanced microencapsulation technology to strengthen the dual antibacterial effect of monoglyceride laurate and essential oils, and synergize the effect.
The test was conducted on 64 sows of plus line LY, the control group was fed with basal diet, basal diet + 0.3% Tevamycin, the test group 1 was fed with basal diet + 0.1% Ankesor®, the test group 2 was fed with basal diet + 0.2% Ankesor®, and the test period was 90 days of gestation – weaning (21 days), and the test unit was the Animal Nutrition Research Institute of Sichuan Agricultural University.
In the late gestation period of sows, the addition of Ankesor® to the diet significantly shortened the total length of farrowing and the interval between farrowings; Ankesor® increased the litter weight and weaning survival rate of piglets by 6.2% and 7%, respectively, and decreased the rate of diarrhea of piglets by 42.5%; the effects of Ankesor® in promoting growth and preventing diarrhea were significantly better than that of Tavanmectin.
Addition of Ankesor® to the diet significantly reduced TNF-a during farrowing and weaning of sows. 0.1% of Ankesor® increased the concentration of serum IL-10 during weaning of piglets, 0.2% of Ankesor® reduced serum TNF-a during weaning of piglets and significantly increased the concentration of IL-6. Ankesor® reduces stress and inflammation caused by sows at farrowing and piglets at weaning.
Addition of Ankesor® to the diet tended to increase the milk protein in the colostrum of sows; addition of 0.2% of Ankesor® increased the milk fat content of the regular milk of sows by 9%. 0.1% of Ankesor® significantly increased the diversity of fecal microorganisms. The addition of Ankesor® to the diet tended to elevate the diversity of fecal microorganisms in the rectum of the piglets.
Ankesen®
Based on the theory of fatty acid balance, Ankesen® utilizes an advanced process to encapsulate medium-chain fatty acids with short-chain fatty acids to achieve slow release and synergistic effects of functional fatty acids in the intestinal tract.
Trial 1: piglet blue ear prevention and control program
A total of 900 piglets weaned at 25 days of age, weighing 7.5 kg, were selected for the test, and the control group was fed with basal diet and the test group was fed with basal diet + 0.3% Ankesen®, and the test period was 45 days (2023.05.27-2023.07.10).
In the Ankesen® group, the feed-to-meat ratio decreased by 7.35%, the deadweight rate decreased by 2.15 percentage points, the average weight gain cost decreased by 6.33%, and the deadweight rate of piglets due to blue ear was effectively reduced.
Trial 2
In the experiment, 120 weaned piglets of 24-day-old “Du Chang Da” were selected, and the control group was fed with basal diet, the antibiotic group was fed with basal diet + 40 mg/kg zinc bacopeptide, the Ankesen® group was fed with basal diet + 0.1% Ankesen®, the antibiotic+Ankesen® group was fed with basal diet + 40 mg/kg zinc bacopeptide + 0.1% Ankesen®, and the antibiotic+Ankesen® group was fed with basal diet + 0.1% Zinc bacopeptide. 0.1% Ankesen®. The experimental period was 28 days (07.10.2019 – 05.11.2019).
The addition of Ankesen® to the diet significantly increased the body weight of weaned piglets while reducing the feed-to-meat ratio and diarrhea rate (50.7%).
Ankesen®significantly improved the morphology of the duodenum in piglets (increased intestinal villus height, decreased crypt depth, and significantly higher villus-crypt ratio), and increased the activity of trypsin, amylase and lipase in the duodenum. The addition of Ankesen®to the diet effectively increased the immunoglobulin content in the serum of piglets and inhibited the proliferation of harmful intestinal flora (E. coli, Salmonella).
This is a recap of all the highlights of Peng Rong’s presentation, thank you for your patience. If you are interested, please stay tuned to our website!
