Evaluation of dietary supplementation of delta-aminolevulinic acid and chitooligosaccharide on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood characteristics, and fecal microbial shedding in weaned pigs

Eighty commercial cross-bred pigs [(Duroc×Yorkshire)×Landrace, weaned at 21 d, bodyweight (BW) = 5.97 ± 0.46 kg] were allocated to 1 of 4 treatments [4 replicates with 5 pigs per pen (3 barrows and 2 gilts)] to determine the effects of delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) and chitooligosaccharide (COS) in weaned pigs using a 2×2 factorial design, with 2 levels of COS (0 or 3 mg/kg) and ALA (0 or 3 mg/kg). In this study, pigs fed diets supplemented with ALA did not affect the overall growth performance, although dietary ALA supplemented diets increased (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) during 2–5 wk. Inclusion of ALA did not affect the (P>0.05) the nutrient digestibility. Dietary ALA supplementation increased (P<0.05) red blood cells (RBC), serum iron, total iron and total iron binding capacity (TIBC) in pigs. A synergistic effect (P<0.05) between ALA and COS was observed on serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) concentrations. Moreover, inclusion of COS decreased the Escherichia coli numbers throughout the experiment. No difference (P>0.05) was observed on the nutrient digestibility and blood characteristics with COS supplementation. A synergistic interaction (P<0.05) was also observed between ALA and COS on fecal shedding of E. coli at d 13. In conclusion, pigs fed ALA (3 mg/kg) had no effect on overall growth performance but increased the iron status in weaned pigs. Inclusion of COS (3 g/kg) increased the lymphocyte count in blood and reduce the fecal E. coli in weaned pigs. A synergistic effect between ALA and COS was observed on the total IgG concentration and fecal E. coli in weaned pigs.