Therapeutic efficacy of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, zinc glycinate and oyster mushrooms against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in diarrhoeic pigs

Enterotoxigenic E. coli. is a major contributing factor for diarrhoea in pigs.In veterinary medicine, the use of antimicrobials in the management of diarrhoea as a preventative or therapeutic measure in field circumstances is disputed due to resistance development.The current study was designed to assess the therapeutic efficacy of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, zinc glycinate, and oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) in diarrhoea of pigs.Twenty four diarrhoeic pigs of either sex weighing 2.0 to 25.7 kg possessing enterotoxigenic E. coli, confirmed by molecular technique, were divided into four groups viz.Group II, III, IV and V, comprising six pigs in each group alongside the control (Group I) and each group was treated with different combinations of treatment protocol.To assess the therapeutic efficacy, dehydration score, fecal consistency, haemato-biochemical parameters, oxidative stress and zinc level were analyzed.The dehydration score and fecal consistency of diarrhoeic pigs improved significantly (p<0.01) in all the four treatment groups at day 7 post-therapy.All the increased and decreased haemato-biochemical parameters were turned to normalcy after the 7 th day post-therapy with Lactobacillus bulgaricus, zinc glycinate and oyster mushrooms, which were comparable with the healthy control group.The considerable increase in lipid hydroperoxide (LPO), as well as the statistically significant (p<0.01)decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH) and total antioxidant activity (TAOA), and Zn activities indicated oxidative stress in pigs suffering from diarrhoea.These values were successfully turned to normalcy in all the treated groups after the 7 th day post-therapy.In conclusion, the results of the present study suggest that combinations of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, zinc glycinate and oyster mushrooms can be used in therapeutic measure of diarrhoea in pigs as an alternative to antibiotics.