Table 5.
Effects of API supplementation on cecal microbial populations and its metabolites of ETEC-challenged piglets.
| Item | Treatments1 |
SEM |
P-value |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON | ECON | EANT | E750API | E1500API | P12 | P23 | ||
| Microbial populations, lg (CFU/g) | ||||||||
| Total bacteria | 10.92 | 10.87 | 10.74 | 10.65 | 10.57 | 0.087 | 0.85 | 0.67 |
| Escherichia coli | 7.35 | 8.37 | 7.75 | 7.47 | 7.42 | 0.196 | 0.07 | 0.35 |
| Bifidobacterial | 6.37 | 5.85b | 5.57b | 6.95a | 6.18ab | 0.188 | 0.35 | 0.04 |
| Lactobacillus | 5.18 | 5.15a | 5.31a | 4.24b | 5.43a | 0.156 | 0.92 | 0.01 |
| VFA, mg/g | ||||||||
| Acetic acid | 3.24 | 3.13b | 3.33b | 3.80ab | 4.23a | 0.146 | 0.82 | 0.03 |
| Propionic acid | 1.36 | 1.61 | 1.82 | 1.63 | 1.82 | 0.087 | 0.34 | 0.75 |
| Butyric acid | 0.21 | 0.16 | 0.16 | 0.19 | 0.23 | 0.011 | 0.18 | 0.08 |
API = artificial parasin I protein; ETEC = enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; VFA = volatile fatty acids. Mean and total SEM are listed in separate columns (n = 6).
1
CON = basal diet; ECON = basal diet + ETEC; EANT = basal diet + antibiotics + ETEC; E750API = basal diet + 750 mg/kg API + ETEC; E1500API = basal diet + 1500 mg/kg API + ETEC.
2
P1 is the t-test P-value between CON and ECON group (∗P < 0.05, ∗∗P < 0.01).
3
P2 is the ANOVA P-value among the ETEC-challenged groups (ECON vs. EANT vs. E750API vs. E1500API). Values with different lowercase letter superscripts within a row mean significant differences (P < 0.05).