Abstract
The objective of the project is to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of Amino Acids (AA) on the metabolism and performance of pigs housed under poor and good housing conditions. A total of 120 pigs, castrated males, an average body weight of 15 kg, will be randomly allocated in one of eight treatments in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial scheme: two sanitary conditions - with or without sanitary challenged with Salmonella typhimurium (ST) (oral inoculation at 108 CFU dosage); two diets - control (CON) and enriched diet (ENR) with 20% increase in AA:Lys ratio (methionine, threonine, and tryptophan) and two moments of supplementation - before ST challenge (preventive supplementation) or after ST challenge (curative supplementation), during a 49 days experimental period. An automated feeding system (automated intelligent precision feeder) will record the feed intake and feed behavior (feeder occupation, feeding time per meal, and feed intake per meal). Weekly weightings will be used to evaluate growth performance. The body composition (lean, fat, and bone deposition) and microbiome characterization will be measured by Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and new generation sequencing methods, respectively. Finally, metabolic (creatinine, urea, and total amino acids) and immunological parameters (haptoglobin, lymphocyte count, immunoglobulins, diamine oxidase, and D-lactate) will be evaluated as well. The achievements of this study will improve the development of nutritional strategies to mitigate the effects of sanitary challenges on the metabolism, performance, and well-being of growing pigs. (AU)
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