Effect of Actigen and threonine interaction on the development of gut immunity of nursery pigs (816.3)

Weaned piglets were allocated to six treatment groups (n = 6/treatment) in a 2 x 3 factorial design experiment: Actigen (0 or 400 g/T), true ileal digestible (TID) threonine (Thr):lysine (Lys) ratio (57 [low], 67[recommended], and 77 [high]). After 6 wk of feeding, duodenum, jejunum and ileum tissues were sampled for qPCR analysis. Expression of cytokines was reported relative to the control (no Actigen + 67 TID Thr:Lys). In jejunum, interleukin 6 ( IL6 ) was down‐regulated ( P < 0.05) with Actigen + 57 or 77 TID Thr:Lys, (‐5.89 and ‐4.14‐fold, respectively). In ileum, interleukin 1 beta ( IL1B ) was down‐regulated ( P < 0.05) with Actigen + 57 and 77 TID Thr:Lys (‐1.35 and ‐1.75‐fold, respectively). In duodenum, IL1B was up‐regulated ( P < 0.05) (1.89‐fold) with Actigen +57 TID Thr:Lys. In duodenum and jejunum, tumor necrosis factor ( TNF ) was up‐regulated ( P < 0.05) with Actigen + 67 TID Thr:Lys (1.21‐fold and 1.33‐fold, respectively). In duodenum, IL6 (‐1.51‐fold) and TNF (1.32‐fold) differed ( P < 0.05) in response to no Actigen +57 and 77 TID Thr:Lys, respectively. Relative to the control, Actigen and Thr, in combination, were associated with decreased mRNA levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL6 , IL1B in the intestine of weaned pigs.