Effects Of Sodium Butyrate On Production Performance And Intestinal Barrier Of Meat Rabbits

This pilot project investigated the effect of sodium butyrate instead of antibiotics on the productive performance and the intestinal barrier of growing meat rabbits from weaning to farrowing.In this experiment,600 weaned healthy meat rabbits(Hyla meat rabbits)were selected and randomly divided into three groups with five replicates of 40 rabbits each(5 rabbits per cage).The three groups were sodium butyrate group(fed commercial feed with 0.5%sodium butyrate raw powder added),antibiotic group(0.004% antibiotic added,the type of antibiotic was bacteriophage zinc),and control group(fed normal commercial feed).The pretest period was 7 days,the positive test period was 28 days,and 7 days before the end of feeding,8 test rabbits in each group were selected and transferred to metabolic cages for metabolic tests.The test results were as follows:(1)The addition of sodium butyrate to the feed reduced the death rate and diarrhea rate of weaned rabbits,but had no significant effect on the average daily feed intake(ADFI),average daily weight gain(ADG)and feed-to-weight ratio(F/G)of weaned rabbits(P > 0.05).There was a highly significant effect(P < 0.01)on post-slaughter half-bore weight,which was significantly higher in the sodium butyrate group than in the other two groups,reaching 1.355kg;there was also a highly significant effect(P < 0.01)on full-bore weight,which was higher in the sodium butyrate group than in the other two groups,reaching 1.252 kg,and there was no significant difference in half-net bore weight and whole-net bore weight between the antibiotic and control groups.For meat quality,muscle p H was slightly higher in the diet with the addition of sodium butyrate than in the control group,but did not differ from the antibiotic group.The addition of sodium butyrate had no significant effect on the organ index of meat rabbits(P >0.05).(2)The addition of sodium butyrate had a highly significant effect(P < 0.01)on serum glutamic aminotransferase(AST)as well as total protein(TP).There was a significant effect(P< 0.05)on serum glucose(GLU)levels.The addition of sodium butyrate reduced the ingested nitrogen(IN)and digestible nitrogen(DN)in meat rabbits(P < 0.05).(3)The addition of sodium butyrate to the feed improved the intestinal morphology,with a highly significant difference in the ratio of villi length to crypt depth(V/C)in the jejunum(P< 0.01),a significant effect on V/C values in the duodenum and ileum(P < 0.05),and an increase in V/C values in all three intestinal segments of the small intestine.For intestinal flora,the addition of sodium butyrate also improved the intestinal flora of rabbits,and the composition of intestinal flora was similar between the sodium butyrate and antibiotic groups,indicating that sodium butyrate could replace antibiotics in the diet of rabbits to some extent.For the intestinal immune barrier,the levels of IL-4,IFN-γ and SIg A in the jejunum,ileum and duodenum were increased by the addition of sodium butyrate(P < 0.05),but there was no significant effect on the gene expression of mucin 1(Muc1)and mucin 4(Muc4).For the intestinal physical barrier,in the duodenum,gene expression of Claudin,Occludin,ZO-1,and ZO-2 was significantly increased in the sodium butyrate group(P < 0.05);in the jejunum,gene expression of ZO-1,ZO-2,and JAM2 was significantly increased in the sodium butyrate group(P < 0.05);in the ileum,gene expression of ZO-1,JAM2,and The gene expression of JAM3 was also significantly increased in the ileum(P < 0.05).For intestinal flora,the addition of sodium butyrate to the diet increased the flora richness of cecum contents of rabbits,among which the content of Firmicutes and Ruminococcaceae increased;according to the prediction of pathogenic bacteria,the content of potentially pathogenic bacteria in cecum contents of rabbits was significantly reduced after the addition of sodium butyrate to the diet.The above experimental results showed that for weaning to farrowing meat rabbits,the addition of sodium butyrate to the feed improved the production performance of meat rabbits,increased the V/C value of the intestine,thus increasing the absorption area of the intestine,enhancing the immune function of the intestine,and having a positive effect on the intestinal barrier and intestinal homeostasis of meat rabbits,thus reducing the mortality rate and diarrhea rate during the production of meat rabbits,and to a certain extent,being able to achieve the The effect of antibiotics can be achieved to some extent.Therefore,sodium butyrate can be added to rabbit diets as an antibiotic alternative.