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May 9, 2026

Effect of Dietary Crude Protein and Acid-binding Capacity on Growth Performance, Serum Cytokine Concentration, and Intestinal Morphology in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18 Challenged Nursery Pigs

JSJessica SmallfieldKansas State University JGJordan T GebhardtKansas State University MTMike D TokachKansas State University

Key Points

The study aims to evaluate the effects of dietary crude protein and acid-binding capacity on growth performance and health markers in E. coli F18 challenged nursery pigs.
80 pigs (241 × 600 DNA) randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a generalized block design.
Diets were tested with corn-soybean meal, varying in crude protein at 18% and 21%, and acid-binding capacity.
Pigs were inoculated with E. coli F18 and assessed over 14 days with measures of growth, cytokines, and intestinal morphology.
Pigs on low acid-binding capacity diets showed a trend towards increased growth-to-feed ratio (P=0.066).
Fecal dry matter improved significantly for low acid-binding capacity diets on specific days (P ≤ 0.039).
Pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine levels were increased in pigs on low acid-binding capacity diets compared to traditional formulations, with significant interactions noted.

Abstract

Abstract A total of 80 pigs (241 × 600 DNA; initially 6.4 ± 0.47 kg) were used in a 14-d study using two groups (40 pigs/group) to evaluate the effects of crude protein (CP) and acid-binding capacity at a pH of 4 (ABC-4) on growth performance, fecal dry matter (DM), serum cytokines, haptoglobin concentrations, and intestinal morphology in Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18 (ETEC) challenged nursery pigs. Within group, pigs were randomly allotted to one of four dietary treatments in a generalized randomized block design. Diets were corn-soybean meal-based without pharmacological levels of Zn or Cu and arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of ABC-4 with a low ABC-4 diet formulation (200 and 250 meq/kg in phases 1 and 2, respectively) to a traditional formulation (TF; ≥418 and ≥382 meq/kg in phases 1 and 2, respectively). The second factor, CP, was tested at 21% and 18%. There were 20 pigs/treatment and diets were fed from d -7 to 0 (phase 1) and d 0 to 14 (phase 2). Pigs were group housed for a 7-d acclimation period, then moved to individual pens and inoculated on d 0. On d 7, pigs were euthanized so that 5 pigs/treatment remained for each experiment. Overall (d 0 to 14), pigs fed low ABC-4 diets tended to have increased (P = 0.066) G:F compared with those fed TF diets. No interactions were observed for fecal DM. However, fecal DM increased (P ≤ 0.039) on d 0 and 10 for pigs fed low ABC-4 diets compared with those fed TF diets, with no differences observed on d 3, 7, or 14. An ABC-4×day interaction was observed (P = 0.014) for serum haptoglobin. Haptoglobin concentration tended to decrease (P = 0.091) on d 14 in pigs fed low ABC-4 diets compared to pigs fed diets using a TF strategy, with no differences on d 0 or 7. An ABC-4×CP×day interaction was observed (P = 0.050) for TNFα where on d 14 (P = 0.003) pigs fed the low ABC-4 diet at 18% CP had increased concentrations, while pigs fed the TF diet at 21% CP had increased concentrations. Additionally, ABC-4×day interactions were observed (P ≤ 0.035) for pro-inflammatory (IL-1α, IL-2, IL-6, IL-18) and anti-inflammatory (IL-4 and IL-10) cytokines where on d 7 pigs fed low ABC-4 diets had increased (P ≤ 0.036) concentrations compared to pigs fed TF diets. An ABC-4×CP interaction was observed (P = 0.007) for duodenal crypt depth, where pigs fed the low ABC-4 diet at 21% CP had greater (P 0.05) crypt depth compared to pig fed the low ABC-4 diet at 18%, whereas the opposite trend occurred for TF diets. In summary, using a low ABC-4 diet formulation strategy tended to increase G:F, fecal DM, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine concentrations in ETEC F18-challenged nursery pigs.

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