Effects of a protease in the intestinal health and performance parameters of weaned piglets fed with different diet complexities

• Grant number: 23/08670-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2023
• End date: August 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Animal Husbandry - Animal Nutrition and Feeding
• Principal Investigator: Cesar Augusto Pospissil Garbossa
• Grantee: Henrique Rafael Geremias
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia (FMVZ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Complex diets, with high biological value ingredients, are seen as an alternative to facilitate piglets' adaptation after weaning; however, the high cost has been a limiting factor for their use in the nursery phase. To overcome this situation, there is the possibility of using some technologies such as exogenous enzymes. Among them, the use of proteases can be mentioned as a way to enable the use of less complex formulations, with less digestible and cheaper ingredients. Proteases improve the digestion and absorption of vegetable proteins and prevent excessive fermentable protein, which has negative effects on animals. For this purpose, 192 piglets weaned at 28 days will be exposed to six different treatments in an experimental design with a 2x3 factorial scheme, with or without the addition of a protease in the diet and three different levels of diet complexity; each treatment will have eight repetitions, and the respective experimental units (pens) will consist of four animals. Feed will be provided ad libitum, with four feeding phases: pre-starter 1 (1-7 days), pre-starter 2 (8-21 days), starter 1 (22-28 days), and starter 2 (29-42 days). Feed intake and waste will be recorded daily, and at each feed change, all piglets will be individually weighed for performance variable calculations. Feces will be evaluated and classified daily to assess the frequency of diarrhea. At 21 and 42 days of the experiment, one animal per experimental unit with the weight closest to the pen average (total of 96) will be slaughtered to perform intestinal morphology analysis, gene expression, and inflammatory cytokines analysis. Jejunum and colon samples will be collected for analysis.