Authors : Zheng-Shun Wen, Jian-Jun Lu and Xiao-Ting Zou
Abstract: A total of 96 pigs weaned at day 21 (Duroc x Landrace x Yorkshire) with an average initial body weight of 6.42 kg were used to investigate the effects of sodium butyrate on growth performance, intestinal morphology and DNA-binding activity of Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB) in the small intestine. The pigs were allocated to three dietary treatments in a randomized complete block design. Each treatment was replicated four times with eight pigs per replicate and the trial lasted for 21 days. The dietary treatments were: basal diet, basal diet+500 mg kg-1 sodium butyrate basal diet+1000 mg kg-1 sodium butyrate. The results showed that supplementation with 1000 mg kg-1 sodium butyrate in diets improved (p<0.05) growth performance, increased (p<0.05) villous height and the villus height to crypt depth ratio at the small intestinal mucosa, reduced (p<0.05) the total viable counts of proximal colon Clostridium and Escherichia coli, decreased (p<0.05) Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α), Interleukin-6 (IL-6) level in the serum and DNA-binding activity of the intestinal NF-κB (p<0.05) as compared with control or 500 mg kg-1 sodium butyrate. Supplementation with 500 mg kg-1 sodium butyrate in diets increased (p<0.05) villus height and the villus height to crypt depth ratio at the jejunum, decreased (p<0.05) TNF-α and IL-6 level in the serum as compared with control. The results indicated that sodium butyrate is effective on improving growth performance and enhancing the intestinal morphology of weanling pigs, this effect might be through the pathway of decreasing the TNF-α, IL-6 level in serum and inhibition of DNA-binding activity of the intestinal NF-κB.
Zheng-Shun Wen, Jian-Jun Lu and Xiao-Ting Zou , 2012. Effects of Sodium Butyrate on the Intestinal Morphology and DNA-Binding Activity of Intestinal Nuclear Factor-κB in Weanling Pigs. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 11: 814-821.