Assessment of health safety of pigs taking natural sorbents with feed

Łukasz Wlazło; Małgorzata Kwiecień; Hanna Bis-Wencel; Wojciech Łopuszyński; Grzegorz Buszewicz; Katarzyna Karpińska; Izabela Rodzyń; Martyna Kasela; Paweł Sobczak; Bożena Nowakowicz-Dębek

doi:10.1186/s12917-022-03563-3

Assessment of health safety of pigs taking natural sorbents with feed

BMC Vet Res. 2023 Jan 6;19(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12917-022-03563-3.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Animal Hygiene and Environmental Hazards, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950, Lublin, Poland.
² Institute of Animal Nutrition and Bromatology, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950, Lublin, Poland.
³ Department of Pathological Anatomy, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 30, 20-612, Lublin, Poland.
⁴ Department of Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8B, 20-090, Lublin, Poland.
⁵ Department of Animal Hygiene and Environmental Hazards, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950, Lublin, Poland. katarzyna.karpinska@up.lublin.pl.
⁶ Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, Chodźki 1, 20-093, Lublin, Poland.
⁷ Department of Food Engineering and Machines, Faculty of Production Engineering, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Głęboka 28, 20-612, Lublin, Poland.
⁸ Department of Animal Hygiene and Environmental Hazards, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, Akademicka 13, 20-950, Lublin, Poland. bozena.nowakowicz@up.lublin.pl.

Abstract

Background: The study assessed the effect of smectites (bentonite and zeolite) used as natural sorbents in the diet of pigs on feed digestibility, health parameters, the severity of anatomo-histological changes in organs, and the accumulation of volatile pollutants in organs.

Material and methods: The study was conducted using fattening pigs (crossbreds from multiple breeds) assigned to three groups - a control (C) and two experimental groups (A and B), with 240 pigs in each group (3 replicates × 80). The animals in group C received a standard complete diet, while groups A and B received diets with 1.5% composed smectite sorbents. The feed and faeces were analysed for content of dry matter, crude ash, crude protein, ether extract, and crude fibre. The content of P was determined using a Helios Alpha UV-VIS spectrophotometer. Whole blood was analysed for haematological parameters and serum for biochemical parameters. Tissue samples were collected for analysis of volatile substances and histological analysis. After slaughter, samples of the lungs, liver, kidneys and jejunum were collected for morphological evaluation, and samples of the perirenal fat, liver, kidneys, lungs and brain for headspace gas chromatography (GC) to determine the levels of volatile toxic substances.

Results: A statistical increase in the digestibility of crude fibre and an increase in that of P were observed in both experimental groups (A and B) in comparison to the control. The whole blood and serum of the pigs from the control group had statistically significantly higher levels of creatinine, urea, and Mg and a higher WBC count compared to both experimental groups (A and B).

Conclusions: The feed additives were not shown to have a negative effect on the health parameters analysed or on accumulation of pollutants in selected tissues. No significant effect on the digestibility of most nutrients was observed; only an increase in the digestibility of crude fibre and a decrease in P digestibility were noted in the experimental groups.

Keywords: Bentonite; Health; Nutrient digestibility; Pigs; Zeolite.

MeSH terms

Animal Feed / analysis
Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
Animals
Diet* / veterinary
Digestion*
Feces
Jejunum
Nutrients
Swine