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Vitamin E is important for animal production because of its effects on health and product quality, but the amount and form required remains controversial. Our objective was to quantify the absolute bioavailability of oral all-rac-α-tocopheryl acetate (α-TAc) in swine (22 ± 1 kg and 8 wk old, fitted with jugular catheters) adapted to a diet supplemented with 75 mg/kg all-rac-α-TAc; 75 mg/kg was chosen because this level represents the nonweighted average inclusion level in piglet diets across Western key swine-producing countries. For this, a 350-g test meal (6% fat) was supplied at time 0 containing 75 mg deuterated (D9) all-rac-α-TAc to 9 animals, and 8 animals received an intravenous (i.v.) dose containing deuterated (D6) RRR-α-tocopherol (α-T) at one-eighth the oral dose and a test meal without supplemental vitamin E. Plasma samples (12 to 13 per animal) were obtained at incremental intervals over 75 h for analysis of deuterated α-T using liquid chromatography--tandem mass spectrometry. Surprisingly, the i.v. dose rapidly disappeared from plasma and then reappeared. The half-life for this first peak was only 1.7 ± 0.3 min. The second peak had an appearance rate (Ka) of 0.10 ± 0.06 d-1 and a half-life of 5.9 ± 1.2 h. Oral dosing resulted, after a lag of 56 min, in a Ka of 0.91 ± 0.21 d-1 and a half-life of 2.6 ± 0.8 h. The bioavailability for oral α-TAc was 12.5%, whereas the area under the curve was only 5.4%. This low bioavailability, small area under the curve, and short half-life are likely because of various factors, that is, the use of only 6% fat in the diet, the use of the acetate ester and all-rac, and the high dose relative to requirements. In conclusion, i.v. dosed vitamin E shows both a rapid and a very slow pool, whereas orally dosed vitamin E shows a single slow pool. The oral material has a very short half-live (44% of i.v. or 2.6 h), low bioavailability (12.5%), and a very small area under the curve (5.4%), bringing into question the efficacy of typical doses of vitamin E in swine diets for alleviating oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intestinal barrier function in pigs after weaning is almost exclusively determined in terminal experiments with Using chambers. Alternatively, the recovery in urine of orally administered lactulose can be used to assess intestinal permeability in living animals. This experiment was designed to study the barrier function of the small intestine of pigs over time after weaning. The aim was to relate paracellular barrier function (measured by lactulose recovery in the urine) with macromolecular transport [measured by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) using Ussing chambers] and bacterial translocation to assess whether lactulose recovery is related to possible causes of infection and disease. Forty gonadectomized male pigs (6.7 ± 0.6 kg) were weaned (d 0) at a mean age of 19 d, fitted with urine collection bags, and individually housed. Pigs were dosed by oral gavage with a marker solution containing lactulose (disaccharide) and the monosaccharides L-rhamnose, 3-0rnethylglucose, and D-xylose at 2 h and at 4, 8, and 12 d after weaning. The recovery of sugars in the urine was determined over 18 h after each oral gavage. The day after each permeability test, the intestines of 10 pigs were dissected to determine bacterial translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes and jejunal permeability for HRP in Ussing chambers. Recovery of L-rharnnose in urine was affected by feed intake and by the time after weaning (P < 0.05). Recovery of lactulose from the urine was greater (P 0.05) at 4, 8, and 12 d after weaning compared with the first day after weaning and was negatively correlated with feed intake (r = -0.63, P < 0.001). The mean translocation of aerobic bacteria to the mesenteric lymph nodes was greater at 5 and 13 d after weaning compared with d 1 (P < 0.05). Lactulose recovery showed no correlation with permeability for HRP nor with bacterial translocation (P> 0.05). Although both lactulose recovery and bacterial translocation increased over time after weaning, lactulose recovery did not correlate with the permeability for HRP nor bacterial translocation within a pig (P> 0.05). Therefore, we conclude that lactulose recovery in the urine of pigs after weaning is not associated with risk factors for infections. However, it appears to be possible to measure paracellular barrier function with orally administered lactulose in pigs shortly after weaning. Further studies will reveal whether this variable is relevant for the long-term performance or health of pigs after weaning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was designed to assess whether corn fractions or extrusion of corn can result in feed ingredients with a greater nutritional value than corn. Corn grain (8.0% CP, 0.21% P, 9.8% NDF) was processed by extrusion (82.8°C, 345 kPa steam pressure for 12 s) or by dry milling to derive fractions rich in germ (13.1% CP, 1.19% P, 17.2% NDF), hulls (8.1% CP, 0.27% P, 32.6% NDF), and endosperm, namely tails (6.6% CP, 0.07% P, 3.6% NDF) and throughs (7.4% CP, 0.15% P, 4.5% NDF). Relative recovery in each fraction was 16, 20, 44, and 20%, respectively. Ileal digestibility of DM, P, and amino acids was determined using diets containing 7.0% CP from soybean meal and 5.3% CP from one of the test products. To allow for determination of standardized ingredient, ileal digestibility, basal endogenous AA losses were determined using a protein-free diet (74.6% cornstarch and 18.7% sucrose). Soybean meal ileal digestibility was determined using a diet (12.3% CP) based on soybean meal (23.3%). Eight barrows (27 ± 2 kg) fitted with T-cannulas were fed 8 experimental diets (5-d adaptation and 2-d collection period) such that each diet was evaluated in at least 5 barrows. Relative to corn (77.9 ± 1.2%), ileal digestibility of DM was greater for extruded corn (82.5%; P = 0.02), tails (85.9%; P < 0.01), and throughs (85.0%; P < 0.01), but it was lower for hulls (62.2%; P < 0.01) and germ (51.1%; P < 0.01). For P, corn (41.6 ± 9.5%), throughs (47.2%), and hulls (57.3%) had similar ileal digestibility, but germ (7.9%) had lower ileal digestibility (P = 0.02) than corn; tails (27.6%) and extruded corn (23.5%) were not different from corn or germ but were lower than throughs and hulls. For total AA, corn (84.7 ± 2.4%), throughs (84.3%), and hulls (85.8%) had similar ileal digestibility, but germ (76.6%) had lower ileal digestibility (P < 0.01) than corn; tails (82.0%) and extruded corn (81.7%) were intermediate. In conclusion, germ and hulls have a low ileal DM digestibility; germ also has low AA and P digestibility. Extrusion improved the ileal DM digestibility of corn. To maximize the ileal digestibility, removal of germ and hull from corn or extrusion of corn may thus be of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As environmental constraints become more important issues for the animal industry, selecting feed ingredients that yield good animal performance but also minimize environmental impact of animal production becomes critical. The objective of this research was to identify which compositional features would be desirable for soybean meal to maximize nutritional value and minimize animal waste. Eight soybean samples were selected from a database of 72, such that maximal variability for CP, NDF, and ADF content was obtained. Samples were subsequently processed into meal using standardized procedures. In Experiment 1, 8 cannulated pigs were used to determine ileal digestibility following a Latin square design. In Experiment 2, 5 of the samples were used in complete feeds and 10 pigs were used in a crossover Latin square design to determine the total tract digestibility, odorants in fresh and 5-d-old manure, and ammonia emission from manure. Differences up to 6% in ileal DM digestibility and 8% in ileal CP digestibility were observed. This difference was reduced to 1.1% for total tract DM digestibility and 4% for total tract CP digestibility. Differences in odorant concentration were 3-fold and for in vitro ammonia emission were 42%. The only compositional variable with a significant effect on digestibility was stachyose, which negatively affected ileal digestibility of DM (r = -0.80, P = 0.02) and energy (r = -0.73, P = 0.04). None of the compositional variables measured affected ileal CP digestibility. Ileal CP digestibility, however, was correlated with estimated CP fermentation in the large intestine (r = -0.86, P = 0.06) and with in vitro ammonia emission after 48h (r = -0.81, P = 0.09). In conclusion, nutritionally relevant variability exists in soy varieties. Low stachyose content is important for maximizing ileal energy digestibility of soy- bean meal. Although no compositional variable was identified that explained differences in ileal CP digestibility, maximizing ileal CP digestibility is of interest for maximizing the nutritional value of soybean meal and possibly for reducing ammonia and odor emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to compare three infrared spectroscopy techniques for routine evaluation of AA in animal meals. Animal meals (n = 54) with known AA contents were scanned with a near (NIBS), mid (FTIR), and Raman infrared spectrometer. For NIRS and Raman, samples were scanned "as is", whereas for FTIR, samples had to be finely ground before scanning to obtain reasonable spectra. Both FTIR and Raman data suffered from noise; for Raman, this prevented the development of calibrations. Using derivatized spectral data and a standardized outlier removal procedure, calibrations for nutritionally relevant AA could be developed that were equivalent for both NIRS and FTIR. The variation across AA tested explained (r²) by these calibrations was 70% for NIRS and 68 ± 3% for FTIR. Removing spectral data between 4,000 and 2,000 cm1 from the FTIR data improved calibrations (P = 0.09) and explained an average of 77% of the variation with prediction errors lower than obtained with NIBS (P < 0.01). However, FTIR calibrations based on the entire or the shortened spectrum contained fewer samples than did NIBS calibrations (41 and 39 vs. 48, respectively; P c 0.01) because more samples were removed as outliers. In conclusion, Raman did not yield acceptable spectra for animal meals. For FTIR, sample preparation was more time-consuming because the samples required grinding before analysis. Using the entire mid-infrared range, FTIB calibrations were com- parable to NIBS calibrations. Calibrations for FTIR were improved by eliminating wave numbers that exhibited more noise, resulting in prediction errors better than those for NIRS. Thus, FTIR has the potential to yield better calibrations for AA in animal meals than NIRS, but it requires greater care in sample preparation and scanning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]