• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.16 no.11
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• pp.1673-1679
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• 2003

Two hundred forty 1-d-old Arbor Acres broiler chicks were used to investigate the effects of Cu (II)-exchanged montmorillonite (CEM) or montmorillonite on the growth performance, intestinal microflora, bacterial enzyme activities and morphology of broilers. The chicks were assigned randomly into three groups with 80 chicks per treatment. The three dietary treatments were basal diet only (control group), basal diet +1 g $kg^{-1}$ montmorillonite, and basal diet +1 g $kg^{-1}$ CEM. The results showed that the addition of CEM to the diet increased significantly the body weight and feed efficiency, but a similarly significant increase was not found in broilers fed the diet containing montmorillonite. Supplementing the CEM in the diet of broilers also decreased the numbers of Clostridium perfringens and Escherichia coli in the small intestine and cecum. The addition of either CEM or montmorillonite to the diet depressed the activities of $\beta$-glucosidase and $\beta$-glucuronidase in the small intestinal and cecal contents. Data of villus height and crypt depth for duodenum, jejunum and ileum indicated that dietary addition of CEM or montmorillonite improved the small intestinal mucosal morphology.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.10
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• pp.1470-1477
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• 2006

One hundred and sixty crossbred pigs ($6.62{\pm}0.36kg$) weaned at day $18{\pm}1$ were used to investigate the effects of lactitol and tributyrin on performance, small intestinal morphology and enzyme activity. The pigs were assigned to one of five dietary groups (4 pens/diet with 8 pigs/pen) and were fed the negative control diet or the negative control diet supplemented with 10 g/kg glutamine (as a positive control), or 3 g/kg lactitol (${\beta}$-D-galactopyranosyl-($1{\rightarrow}4$)-D-sorbitol), or 5 g/kg tributyrin (butanoic acid 1,2,3-propanetriyl ester), or 3 g/kg lactitol+5 g/kg tributyrin. Body weight and feed intake were measured weekly during the 4-week study. On day 7, four pigs per dietary treatment were sacrificed to examine small intestinal morphology and enzyme activity. The results showed that: (1) Compared with the negative control diet, the positive control diet improved weight gain and feed efficiency during weeks 1-2 and over the entire study (p<0.05), and also decreased duodenal and ileal crypt depth (p<0.05), but did not alter intestinal enzyme activity (p>0.05). Lactitol improved feed efficiency during weeks 3-4 and over the entire study (p<0.05), but did not improve weight gain and feed intake, intestinal morphology or enzyme activity (p>0.05). Tributyrin improved weight gain and reduced feed/gain during weeks 3-4 and over the entire study. Tributyrin significantly decreased crypt depth in the duodenum and ileum, and increased duodenal lactase and ileal maltase activity (p<0.05). Lactitol+tributyrin increased weight gain during weeks 3-4 and over the entire study, and improved feed efficiency during weeks 1-2 and 3-4 and over the entire study (p<0.05). Lactitol+tributyrin increased the jejunal villus height, and decreased the duodenal and ileal crypt depth (p<0.05). Lactitol+tributyrin also increased jejunal lactase and sucrase activity (p<0.05). (2) Compared with the positive control, tributyrin improved weight gain and reduced feed/gain during weeks 3-4 (p<0.05), decreased the ileal crypt depth, and improved the duodenal lactase and sucrase activity (p<0.05). Lactitol+ tributyrin improved weight gain during weeks 3-4, improved feed efficiency during weeks 3-4 and over the entire study, increased the ileal villus height, and increased jejunal lactase, sucrase and maltase activity (p<0.05). These results showed that tributyrin improved performance, intestinal morphology and enzyme activity, while the effect of lactitol was very limited. These results also showed that, compared with glutamine, tributyrin was more effective in improving intestinal morphology and enzyme activity, and tributyrin exerted a superior effect in improving performance as weaning progressed. These observations suggest that, as a chemical for repairing intestinal atrophy, glutamine and tributyrin should be used in the first and second periods of the starter phase, respectively.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.10.1-10.6
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• 2018

Background: Stress causes inflammation that impairs intestinal barrier function. Dietary spray-dried plasma (SDP) has recognized anti-inflammatory effects and improvement of gut barrier function. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary SDP on intestinal morphology of mated female mice under stress condition. Results: Villus height, width, and area of small intestines were low on gestation day (GD) 3 or 4 under stress conditions, and higher later (Time, P < 0.05). Crypt depth of colon was low on GD 4 and higher later (Time, P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the SDP treatments improved (P < 0.05) intestinal morphology, indicated by increased villus height, villus width, villus area, and ratio between villus height and crypt depth of small intestines and crypt depth of colon, and by decreased crypt depth of small intestines, compared with the control diet. The SDP treatments also increased (P < 0.05) the number of goblet cells in intestines compared with the control diet. There were no differences between different levels of SDP. Conclusion: Dietary SDP improves intestinal morphology of mated female mice under stress condition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1784-1789
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• 2002

One hundred and twenty-eight growing barrows (Jiaxing Black${\times}$Duroc${\times}$Landrace) at an average BW of 20.8 kg were allocated to four treatments for 42 days, each of which was replicated four times with eight pigs per replicate and used to investigate the effects of fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on digestive enzyme activities, intestinal microflora and morphology of growing pigs. The pigs received the same basal corn-soybean meal diet and FOS was added to the basal diet at 0, 2, 4, 6 g/kg diet at the expense of corn, respectively. As compared to control, supplementation with 4 and 6 g/kg FOS significantly improved average daily gain and feed efficiency. Addition of FOS enhanced the growth of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, but inhibited Clostridium and Escherichia coli in the small intestinal and proximal colonic contents. Supplementation with 4 and 6 g/kg FOS significantly improved the activities of total protease, trypsin and amylase in the small intestinal contents. However, FOS had no significant effect on the activity of lipase in the small intestinal contents as well as the digestive enzymes in pancreas. Morphological measurement of jejunal mucosa did show response to consumption of FOS. Villus height and the villus height to crypt depth ratio at the jejunal mucosa were significantly higher with 4 and 6 g/kg FOS supplementation as compared to control.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.844-850
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• 2011

This study was conducted to compare the effects of dietary supplementation of Sodium Gluconate (SG), Mannan Oligosaccharide (MOS) and Potassium Diformate (PDF) on growth performance and small intestinal morphology in nursery piglets. One hundred forty four female piglets ($11.69{\pm}0.71\;kg$) were divided into 4 treatments with six replicates of six pigs each. The pigs received a control diet or diets supplemented with SG, MOS and PDF at 2,500, 3,000 and 8,000 ppm; respectively, for 6 weeks. Supplementation of SG, MOS or PDF increased final body weight, average daily gain and tended to improve feed to gain ratio (p = 0.02, 0.04 and 0.16; respectively), other than average daily feed intake, intestinal pH and the bacterial populations were not influenced by the dietary treatments. SG significantly decreased the ammonia concentration in the caecum (p<0.05) and supplementation of SG, MOS or PDF tended to increase lactic acid and total short chain fatty acid concentration in the caecum (p = 0.08, 0.09; respectively), in addition SG, MOS or PDF slightly increased butyric acid concentration in the caecum (p = 0.14). SG highly significant increased the villous height in jejunum (p<0.01) and supplementing SG, MOS or PDF significantly increased crypt depth in jejunum (p<0.05), moreover, PDF significantly increased villous height and crypt depth ratio in jejunum (p<0.05) compared with control. The dietary treatments did not influence villous height and crypt depth in duodenum and villous height in jejunum (p>0.05). It can be concluded that supplementing SG, MOS or PDF as a feed additive has the potential to improve the growth performance, the intestinal lactic acid bacteria population, intestinal short-chain fatty acid concentration and the intestinal morphology of pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.21 no.12
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• pp.1773-1778
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• 2008

Two experiments were carried out to study the effects of corticosterone (CORT) administration on intestinal morphology and function of broilers. In both experiments, birds were randomly divided into two equal groups. One group was the control group (CTRL), and the birds were fed with a basal diet. The other was the experimental group (CORT), and the birds were fed with the basal diet plus 30 mg of CORT/kg diet. At 21 days of age, performance, morphological characteristics of intestine, D-xylose level in plasma, activities of digestive enzymes in digesta, digestibility of nutrients and 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdUrd)-labeling index of intestinal epithelial cells were determined. CORT administration decreased feed intake, daily gain and feed conversion ratio (p<0.05). CORT also decreased duodenal and jejunal villus height (p<0.05) as well as crypt depth (p<0.05). The D-xylose level in plasma of CORT-treated broilers was lower than that of the control (p<0.05). CORT treatment caused a decrease in apparent digestibility of protein (p<0.05), whereas fat and starch apparent digestibilities were unaffected (p>0.05). CORT administration increased activities of trypsin and amylase (p<0.05), and decreased BrdUrd-labeling index of duodenal and jejunal epithelial cells (p<0.05). In conclusion, CORT administration impaired the normal morphology and absorptive capacity of the small intestine of broiler chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.539-550
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• 1996

Experiment was conducted to study the effect of sources of dietary fiber on the intestinal morphology of geese. Sixty white Roman geese of two-week-old were divided randomly into six groups and were fed with isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets which contain alfalfa meal, barley hull, rice hull, purified cellulose, lignin, or pectin as the major dietary source of fiber. Different sources of dietary fiber significantly influenced the villi height and the crypt depth in the duodenum, and the villi height and the muscle layer thickness in the ileum (p < 0.05). The duodenal villus in the geese that fed diets with alfalfa meal, rice hull or pectin supplemented were significantly longest ($968.5{\mu}m$), whereas the lignin group was significantly shortest villus and deepest crypt depth (p < 0.05). The thicknesses of the ileal and caecal muscle layer were significantly thicker in the geese fed with cellulose supplemented diets than in those fed with the other treatment diets. The caecum of the barley bran fed geese possessed significantly longest villi and the most thick muscle layers (p < 0.05). From scanning electronic microscopic observation, the leafy and plate-like in the duodenal villi morphology of geese represented a more effective nutrient absorption in the small intestine. The morphology of ileal villi in geese was similar from herbivorous rabbit and from the African Green monkey.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.12
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• pp.1742-1750
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• 2015

As a novel approach for disease control and prevention, nutritional modulation of the intestinal health has been proved. However, It is still unknown whether branched-chain amino acid (BCAA) is needed to maintain intestinal immune-related function. The objective of this study was to determine whether BCAA supplementation in protein restricted diet affects growth performance, intestinal barrier function and modulates post-weaning gut disorders. One hundred and eight weaned piglets ($7.96{\pm}0.26kg$) were randomly fed one of the three diets including a control diet (21% crude protein [CP], CON), a protein restricted diet (17% CP, PR) and a BCAA diet (BCAA supplementation in the PR diet) for 14 d. The growth performance, plasma amino acid concentrations, small intestinal morphology and intestinal immunoglobulins were tested. First, average daily gain (ADG) (p<0.05) and average daily feed intake (ADFI) (p<0.05) of weaned pigs in PR group were lower, while gain:feed ratio was lower than the CON group (p<0.05). Compared with PR group, BCAA group improved ADG (p<0.05), ADFI (p<0.05) and feed:gain ratio (p<0.05) of piglets. The growth performance data between CON and BCAA groups was not different (p>0.05). The PR and BCAA treatments had a higher (p<0.05) plasma concentration of methionine and threonine than the CON treatment. The level of some essential and functional amino acids (such as arginine, phenylalanine, histidine, glutamine etc.) in plasma of the PR group was lower (p<0.05) than that of the CON group. Compared with CON group, BCAA supplementation significantly increased BCAA concentrations (p<0.01) and decreased urea concentration (p<0.01) in pig plasma indicating that the efficiency of dietary nitrogen utilization was increased. Compared with CON group, the small intestine of piglets fed PR diet showed villous atrophy, increasing of intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) number (p<0.05) and declining of the immunoglobulin concentration, including jejunal immunoglobulin A (IgA) (p = 0.04), secreted IgA (sIgA) (p = 0.03) and immunoglobulin M (p = 0.08), and ileal IgA (p = 0.01) and immunoglobulin G (p = 0.08). The BCAA supplementation increased villous height in the duodenum (p<0.01), reversed the trend of an increasing IELs number. Notably, BCAA supplementation increased levels of jejunal and ileal immunoglobulin mentioned above. In conclusion, BCAA supplementation to protein restricted diet improved intestinal immune defense function by protecting villous morphology and by increasing levels of intestinal immunoglobulins in weaned piglets. Our finding has the important implication that BCAA may be used to reduce the negative effects of a protein restricted diet on growth performance and intestinal immunity in weaned piglets.

• Nutritional Sciences
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.3-10
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• 2000

The present study was aimed at investigating the nutritional and physiological significance of rice bran as a source of dietary fiber as compared to pectin and wheat bran. The parameters for comparison included hypertrophy and morphology of intestines, stool weights and villus marker enzyme activity. For 6 weeks, 10 Sprague Dawley male rats were given one of six experimental diets: 1% cellulose control (CC), 5% pectin (P5), 5% rice bran(RB5), 10% rice bran(RB10), 5% wheat bran (WB5) or 10% wheat bran (WB10) based on the level of dietary fiber. Among experimental groups, food efficiency ratio and body weight gain was comparable. RB10 increased cecal and colonic tissue weights and content weights of cecum and colon as much as P5 did. Stool weight was positiviely correlated with colonic tissue weight (r=0.727, P<0.001), with colonic content weight(r=0.647, P<0.001). Small intestine length increased most in the P5 group, followed by the RB10 group. The scanning electron micrograph of jejunal villi from rice bran groups showed a leaf-shaped, smooth and regular pattern, whereas that of CC group produced a rather long shape. The wheat bran groups showed an irregular leafshaped pattern, and the pectin group typically produced leaf-shaped villi with surface damage. The activities of villus marker enzymes (maltase and sucrase) were higher in the bran-fed rats than in the control or pectin-fed rats. The results indicate than not only dietary fiber amounts but also fiber sources are closely related to the physiology and morphology of the large and small intestines in rats. Rice bran exerted effects on fecal output and trophic effects on the intestines similar to those of pectin.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.3_spc
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• pp.434-442
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• 2021

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the influence of dietary flavonoids on the growth performance, blood and intestinal profiles, and carcass characteristics of broilers by employing a meta-analysis method. Methods: A database was built from published studies which have reported on the addition of various levels of flavonoids from herbs into broiler diets and then monitored growth performance, blood constituents, carcass proportion and small intestinal morphology. A total of 42 articles were integrated into the database. Several forms of flavonoids in herbs were applied in the form of unextracted and crude extracts. The database compiled was statistically analyzed using mixed model methodology. Different studies were considered as random effects, and the doses of flavonoids were treated as fixed effects. The model statistics used were the p-values and the Akaike information criterion. The significance of an effect was stated when its p-value was <0.05. Results: Dietary flavonoids increased (quadratic pattern; p<0.05) the average daily gain of broilers in the finisher phase. There was a reduction (p<0.01) in the feed conversion ratio of the broilers both in the starter (linear pattern) and finisher phases (quadratic pattern). The mortality rate tended to decrease linearly (p<0.1) with the addition of flavonoids, while the carcass parameter was generally not influenced. A reduction (p<0.001) in cholesterol and malondialdehyde concentrations (both linearly) was observed, while super oxide dismutase activity increased linearly (p<0.001). Increasing the dose of flavonoids increased (p<0.01) the villus height (VH) and villus height and crypt depth (VH:CD) ratio (p<0.05) in the duodenum. Similarly, the VH:CD ratio was elevated (p<0.001) in the jejunum following flavonoid supplementation. Conclusion: Increasing levels of flavonoids in broilers diet leads to an improvement in growth performance, blood constituents, carcass composition and small intestinal morphology.