Table 2.
Effects of cycle heat stress or chitosan oligosaccharide supplementation during cyclic heat stress on growth performance and relative organ weights in Sprague Dawley rats.
| Item 1 | Treatment | p-Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON | HS | HSC | HS 2 | COS 3 | |
| Final body weight, g | 170.29 ± 10.32 | 168.74 ± 7.55 | 169.94 ± 9.15 | 0.1237 | 0.1431 |
| ADG, g | 3.52 ± 0.38 a | 2.43 ± 0.36 b | 3.02 ± 0.47 a | 0.0013 | 0.0360 |
| ADFI, g | 12.49 ± 1.60 a | 10.12 ± 0.58 b | 11.19 ± 1.21 ab | 0.0048 | 0.1338 |
| FCR | 3.58 ± 0.56 | 4.24 ± 0.66 | 3.79 ± 0.74 | 0.0640 | 0.1847 |
| Liver (mg g−1) | 48.86 ± 4.61 | 43.29 ± 3.11 | 50.95 ± 10.76 | 0.1909 | 0.0824 |
| Spleen (mg g−1) | 6.27 ± 1.64 a | 4.20 ± 0.81 b | 5.48 ± 1.60 a | 0.0007 | 0.0144 |
| Kidney (mg g−1) | 11.29 ± 2.96 a | 7.56 ± 1.44 b | 9.88 ± 2.87 a | 0.0008 | 0.0148 |
1 Values are mean ± standard error, n = 6. The values having different superscript letters are different (p < 0.05). CON, thermoneutral (24 °C for 24 h/d); HS, heat stress (35 °C for 4 h/d followed by 24 °C for 20 h/d); HSC, heat stress with 200 mg/kg COS supplementation. 2 CON group vs. HS group. 3 HS group vs. HSC group.