Monoglycerides have emerged as a promising alternative to conventional practices due to their biological activities, including antimicrobial properties. However, few studies have assessed the efficacy of monoglyceride blend on weaned pigs and their impacts on performance, immune response, and gut health using a disease challenge model. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary monoglycerides of short- and medium-chain fatty acids on the immunity and gut health of weaned pigs experimentally infected with an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli F18. Pigs supplemented with high-dose zinc oxide (ZNO) had greater (P < 0.05) growth performance than other treatments, but no difference was observed in average daily feed intake between ZNO and monoglycerides groups during the post-challenge period. Pigs in ZNO and antibiotic groups had lower (P < 0.05) severity of diarrhea than control, but the severity of diarrhea was not different between antibiotic and monoglycerides groups. Pigs fed with monoglycerides or ZNO had lower (P < 0.05) serum haptoglobin on d 2 or 5 post-inoculation than control. Pigs in ZNO had greater (P < 0.05) goblet cell numbers per villus, villus area and height, and villus height:crypt depth ratio (VH:CD) in duodenum on d 5 post-inoculation than pigs in other treatments. Pigs supplemented with monoglycerides, ZNO, or antibiotics had reduced (P < 0.05) ileal crypt depth compared with control on d 5 post-inoculation, contributing to the increase (P = 0.06) in VH:CD. Consistently, pigs in ZNO expressed the lowest (P < 0.05) TNFa, IL6, IL10, IL12, IL1A, IL1B, and PTGS2 in ileal mucosa on d 5 post-inoculation, and no difference was observed in the expression of those genes between ZNO and monoglycerides. Supplementation of ZNO and antibiotic had significant impacts on metabolic pathways in the serum compared with control, particularly on carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism, while limited impacts on serum metabolites were observed in monoglycerides group when compared with control. The results suggest that supplementation of monoglyceride blend may enhance disease resistance of weaned pigs by alleviating the severity of diarrhea and mitigating intestinal and systemic inflammation, although the effectiveness may not be comparable to high-dose zinc oxide.

中文翻译：

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甘油单酯混合物对实验感染致病性大肠埃希菌的断奶仔猪的全身和肠道免疫反应以及肠道健康的影响


甘油单酯由于其生物活性（包括抗菌特性）而成为传统做法的有前途的替代品。然而，很少有研究使用疾病攻击模型评估甘油单酯混合物对断奶仔猪的疗效及其对生产性能、免疫反应和肠道健康的影响。因此，本研究旨在探讨日粮中短链脂肪酸甘油单酯对实验感染产肠毒素大肠杆菌 F18 的断奶仔猪免疫力和肠道健康的影响。添加高剂量氧化锌 （ZNO） 的猪比其他处理具有更高的生长性能 （P < 0.05），但在攻击后期间，ZNO 组和甘油单酯组的平均日采食量未观察到差异。ZNO 组和抗生素组猪腹泻严重程度低于对照组 （P < 0.05），但抗生素组和甘油单酯组腹泻严重程度无差异。用甘油单酯或 ZNO 饲喂的猪在接种后第 2 天或第 5 天的血清结合珠蛋白低于对照组 （P < 0.05）。与其他处理的猪相比，ZNO 猪在接种后第 5 天每绒毛的杯状细胞数、绒毛面积和高度以及十二指肠绒毛高度：隐窝深度比 （VH：CD） 更大 （P < 0.05）。与对照组相比，补充甘油单酯、ZNO 或抗生素的猪在接种后第 5 天回肠隐窝深度减少 （P < 0.05），导致 VH：CD 增加 （P = 0.06）。一致地，ZNO 猪在接种后第 5 天在回肠粘膜中表达最低 （P < 0.05） TNFa 、 IL6 、 IL10 、 IL12 、 IL1A 、 IL1B 和 PTGS2 ，并且未观察到 ZNO 和甘油单酯之间这些基因的表达差异。 与对照组相比，补充 ZNO 和抗生素对血清中的代谢途径有显着影响，尤其是碳水化合物和氨基酸代谢，而与对照组相比，甘油单酯组对血清代谢物的影响有限。结果表明，补充甘油单酯混合物可能通过减轻腹泻的严重程度和减轻肠道和全身炎症来增强断奶仔猪的抗病能力，尽管其效果可能无法与高剂量氧化锌相提并论。