Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effects of pharmacological level of zinc from Zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth, liver Metallothionein (MT), Cu, Zn-SOD activity and serum parameters in piglets. A total of 96 crossbred piglets with an initial body weight of 22.95±1.05 kg were blocked by body weight and randomly assigned to two treatments with three replications. Each group was fed the diet supplemented with 100 or 3000 mg kg-1 zinc from ZnO for 30 days. During the feeding trial, all pigs were given free access to feed and water. At the end of the feeding trial, 10 pigs from each treatment were randomly selected and slaughtered to collect liver samples after being bled via anterior vena cava puncture. The addition of 3000 mg kg-1 ZnO improved average daily gain (p<0.05), average feed intake (p<0.05) and feed gain ratio (p<0.05), respectively. The supplementation of 3000 mg kg-1 ZnO increased concentration of MT (p<0.05) and activity of Cu, Zn-SOD (p<0.05) in liver. And serum level of Ca (p<0.05), P (p<0.05) was decreased with Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) activity (p<0.05) increased. Serum Urine Nitrogen (SUN) was decreased (p<0.05). Supplementation of dietary pharmacological zinc also increased Insulin-like Growth Factor I (IGF-I, p<0.05) and insulin (p<0.05) level. In summary, high dietary zinc exerts its beneficial effects on growth performance in piglets through increasing serum IGF-I, liver MT and Cu, Zn-SOD levels.
M.Q. Wang, W.J. Tao , S.S. Ye , Y.J. Du , C. Wang and S.X. Shen , 2012. Effects of Dietary Pharmacological Zinc on Growth, Liver Metallothionein, Cu, Zn-SOD Concentration and Serum Parameters in Piglets. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 11: 1390-1394.