Italian Journal of Animal Science (Apr 2010)

Effect of dietary addition of thymol on growth, salivary and gastric function, immune response, and excretion of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium, in weaning pigs challenged with this microbe strain

  • P. Bosi,
  • G. Lalatta-Costerbosa,
  • L. Minieri,
  • S. De Filippi,
  • C. Tittarelli,
  • L. Casini,
  • M. Mazzoni,
  • G. Merialdi,
  • P. Trevisi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4081/ijas.2007.1s.374
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 6, no. 1s
pp. 374 – 376

Abstract

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64 weaned pigs (24d-old), were fed a control diet or a control plus 1% thymol diet, with or without Salmonella typhimurium challenge. Thymol reduced feed intake but did not affect significantly the final body weight after 29d of trial. Salmonella did not affect the performances. Body temperature was lower in the thymol group before, but also 1d after challenge, when Salmonella increased the values more in unsupplemented pigs. Fecal excretion of S. typhimurium in challenged pigs was not changed by the diet. The thymol group had a higher concentration of immunoglobulin (Ig) in serum before the challenge, but after there was an interaction between diet and challenge. The diet and the challenge did not affect saliva parameters, and ATPase gene expression in the fundic gastric mucosa. Thymol increased the number of parietal cells for 100 μm depth of oxintic gland. In conclusion the important supplementation with thymol reduced the intake, but not performance in the medium period. Some factors of the gut barrier were positively influenced. Salmonella challenge did not reduce significantly the performance of the weaned piglet.

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