Effects of dietary supplementation with palygorskite on intestinal integrity in weaned piglets

The effects of dietary supplementation of palygorskite on intestinal integrity in weaned piglets were investigated in this study. Pigs weaned at 24 days of age (n = 27) were allocated to three groups and fed the same basal diet supplemented with 0 mg/kg (control), 2000 mg/kg, or 3000 mg/kg palygorskite for 42 days. Three pigs from each treatment group were slaughtered for assessment of intestinal integrity on days 21 and 42. The results showed that both the feed/gain and the rate of diarrhea were decreased (P < 0.05) with supplementation of 2000 mg/kg palygorskite, and there were no significant differences between the two palygorskite-treated groups. Pigs fed palygorskite showed lower (P < 0.05) plasma endotoxin and diamine oxidase concentrations on day 21. Compared with control, the villus diameters of duodenum (2000 mg/kg group) and ileum (3000 mg/kg group) were increased (P < 0.05) on day 21, and villus height of the ileum was improved in the groups given palygorskite (P < 0.05) on day 42. Lymphocyte numbers in the jejunum were increased (P < 0.05) with dietary supplementation of 2000 mg/kg palygorskite on day 42, compared with control. Palygorskite was shown to be beneficial to the intestinal integrity, which resulted in improving growth performance in weaned piglets.