Table 4.
Hematological evaluation in pigs fed diets with either antibiotics or increasing levels of BA (as-is basis)1,2
| BA, % | P value | |||||||
| Item | PC3 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 1.00 | SEM | PC vs. 0.00 | Linear4 | Quadratic5 |
| 7 d postweaning (28 d of age) | ||||||||
| White blood cell, 103 cell/uL | 10.9 | 9.7 | 11.1 | 8.6 | 4.6 | 0.500 | 0.535 | 0.209 |
| Neutrophil, 103 cell/uL | 7.3 | 6.6 | 6.4 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 0.628 | 0.450 | 0.765 |
| Lymphocyte, 103 cell/uL | 4.4 | 5.3 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 4.3 | 0.305 | 0.369 | 0.498 |
| Monocyte, 103 cell/uL | 0.28 | 0.42 | 0.22 | 0.22 | 0.16 | 0.170 | 0.056 | 0.250 |
| Eosinophil, 103 cell/uL | 0.08 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.10 | 0.02 | 0.240 | 0.646 | 0.443 |
| Basophil, 103 cell/uL | 3.76 | 3.42 | 3.46 | 3.45 | 3.42 | 0.001 | 0.702 | 0.706 |
| Red blood cell, 106 cell/uL | 9.29 | 8.42 | 9.59 | 7.88 | 2.4 | 0.165 | 0.375 | 0.012 |
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | 23.9 | 21.6 | 24.4 | 20.4 | 9.9 | 0.164 | 0.473 | 0.024 |
| Hematocrit, % | 41.7 | 39.5 | 43.8 | 37.1 | 6.5 | 0.462 | 0.413 | 0.042 |
| Mean corpuscular volume, fL | 35.9 | 33.5 | 34.6 | 33.3 | 18.3 | 0.243 | 0.928 | 0.507 |
| Mean corpuscular hemoglobin, pg | 27.9 | 26.4 | 27.0 | 26.3 | 7.4 | 0.140 | 0.905 | 0.428 |
| 21 d postweaning (42 d of age) | ||||||||
| White blood cell, 103 cell/uL | 12.9 | 10.7 | 11.6 | 10.4 | 5.9 | 0.392 | 0.895 | 0.597 |
| Neutrophil, 103 cell/uL | 7.8 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 7.4 | 3.0 | 0.403 | 0.309 | 0.729 |
| Lymphocyte, 103 cell/uL | 6.7 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 5.0 | 0.315 | 0.891 | 0.450 |
| Monocyte, 103 cell/uL | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.485 | 0.611 | 0.295 |
| Eosinophil, 103 cell/uL | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.832 | 0.035 | 0.039 |
| Basophil, 103 cell/uL | 3.1 | 3.3 | 2.7 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.706 | 0.799 | 0.232 |
| Red blood cell, 106 cell/uL | 9.4 | 9.6 | 8.5 | 9.7 | 2.9 | 0.807 | 0.915 | 0.185 |
| Hemoglobin, g/dL | 22.1 | 23.0 | 19.8 | 22.2 | 10.6 | 0.740 | 0.759 | 0.253 |
| Hematocrit, % | 43.3 | 42.7 | 42.9 | 42.5 | 11.0 | 0.679 | 0.896 | 0.811 |
| Mean corpuscular volume, fL | 35.1 | 35.1 | 36.7 | 33.0 | 14.8 | 0.987 | 0.306 | 0.143 |
| Mean corpuscular hemoglobin, pg | 27.7 | 27.3 | 28.5 | 26.8 | 10.1 | 0.585 | 0.585 | 0.047 |
1The experimental unit was a pen (1 pig representing the median BW was selected in each pen), and each least squares mean represents 6 observations.
2Hematological analysis was done using an automated hematology analyzer (CELL-Dyn 3200, Abbott Lab, Abbot Park, IL).
3PC = a basal diet with antibiotics (chlortetracycline at 100 mg/kg [450 mg/kg of Aureomycin 100] during phases 1 to 3, and tylosin at 44 mg/kg [200 mg/kg of Tylan 100] during phases 4 to 6).
4Linear = linear effect of increasing levels of BA.
5Quadratic = quadratic effect of increasing levels of BA.