Study published in ‘Animals’ shows diet with Palbio 62 improves piglet health and productivity

A study published recently in the journal Animals¹ confirms that including Bioiberica’s Palbio 62 source of hydrolysed protein in the diet of recently weaned piglets helps regulate the expression of genes associated with intestinal health, digestive processes and immune response and improves the animals’ production parameters.

In order to reach this conclusion, a team of researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), Agrarian University of Ecuador, University of Barcelona and Institute for Research on Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB), in collaboration with the Bioiberica Animal Nutrition R&D Department, carried out two studies on a total of 378 farm piglets. In these trials, the piglets in the treatment groups were fed inclusions of Palbio 62, porcine plasma and a combination of the two. The control groups were fed a high-soy diet.

“14 days after weaning, we saw the pigs’ production parameters had improved significantly: live weight, average daily gain and feed conversion,” explains Dr Sergi Segarra, Bioiberica R&D Project Manager, Human and Animal Health.

It was also shown that Palbio 62 significantly promotes expression of a series of genes associated with the following physiological functions:

• Barrier function: Palbio 62 affected expression of the TFF3 gene, which is involved in healing intestinal epithelial cells, and CLDN15 for proper formation of the small intestine.
   
• Digestive hormones and enzymes: Palbio 62 had a positive effect on the HNMT enzyme, which breaks down histamine. Histamine is produced during protein fermentation in the gut and is toxic for the animals.
   
• Immune response: it also has a positive effect on TLR4, a recognition protein for lipopolysaccharides that activates immune response; IFNGR1, an interferon gamma receptor involved in infectious processes; and GBP1, which protects intestinal cells from being destroyed by inflammation.
   
• Antioxidant activity: finally, on the SOD2 gene responsible for the eponymous enzyme, which gets rid of the toxic waste from oxygen, known as ROS, that causes oxidation and cell damage.

Oriol Roigé, a product manager for Bioibérica Animal Nutrition, highlights “Bioiberica’s leadership in manufacturing hydrolysed proteins from porcine intestinal mucosa to the very highest standards of quality and biosafety. This study shows that Palbio62 is a good source of nutrition with functional effects for post-weaning diets and a more affordable alternative to spray-dried plasma (SDP).”

Bioiberica is a global life sciences company that is committed to making people, animals and plants healthier. The Animal Nutrition business unit specialises in developing, manufacturing and commercialising products to improve immune and intestinal health for farm animals in the early stages of development.

Study references:

Francesc González-Solé, Lourdes Criado-Mesas, Carmen Villodre, Wellington C. García, Mercè Farré, Elisabet Borda, Francisco J. Pérez-Cano, Josep M. Folch, David Solà-Oriol and José F. Pérez (2020). Porcine Digestible Peptides (PDP) in Weanling Diets Regulates the Expression of Genes Involved in Gut Barrier Function, Immune Response and Nutrient Transport in Nursery Pigs. Animals, December 2020. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10122368