Table 4.
Effects of dietary algal protein supplementation and ETEC infection on serum inflammatory cytokine concentrations (pg/mL) in weanling pigs1
| Uninfected | ETEC-infected | Model P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item2 | NC | PC | OA | SEM | DPI × TRT |
| 0 DPI | |||||
| IFN-α | 4.72 | 10.4 | 6.52 | 19.5 | 0.972 |
| TNF-α | — | — | — | — | — |
| IL-8 | 164 | 171 | 206 | 80.9 | 0.905 |
| 7 DPI | |||||
| IFN-α | 28.0 | 29.7 | 18.5 | 19.5 | 0.853 |
| TNF-α | — | — | — | — | — |
| IL-8 | 215 | 387 | 304 | 99.0 | 0.232 |
| 10 DPI | |||||
| IFN-α | 53.9 | 68.5 | 50.4 | 15.9 | 0.628 |
| TNF-α | 107b | 138b | 332a | 65.3 | 0.044 |
| IL-8 | 143 | 144 | 139 | 99.0 | 0.999 |
1Values represent least square means of 2 to 8 pigs per treatment. All pigs were started on their assigned dietary treatment starting at –10 DPI. Experimental treatments: NC, sham-inoculated pigs receiving 1.0% wild-type algal protein; PC, ETEC-inoculated pigs receiving 1.0% wild-type algal protein; OA, ETEC-inoculated pigs receiving 1.0% OPN-enriched algal protein. Abbreviations: ETEC, enterotoxigenic E. coli; DPI, days post-inoculation; TRT, treatment; IFN-α, interferon alpha; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor alpha; IL-8, interleukin 8, ND, non-detectable.
2More than 90% of serum samples analyzed at 0 and 7 DPI were below the assay detectable limit for TNF-α and were excluded from the analysis (missing data denoted by ‘-‘).
abMeans without a common superscript letter differ (P < 0.05).