Effects of lactoferrin supplementation on growth performance, intestinal microflora and mucosal morphology of early weaned piglets.

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of lactoferrin(LF)on growth performance,intestinal microflora and mucosal morphology in early weaned piglets.Ninety-six piglets weaned at 21 days of age were randomly divided into four groups with four replicates in every group and 6 piglets in every replicate.The four groups were basal diet group,basal diet+250 mg/kg LF group,basal diet+500 mg/kg LF group and basal diet+750 mg/kg LF group,respectively.The experiment lasted for 21 days.The results showed that compared with the control and 750 mg/kg LF group,diets supplemented with 250 and 500 mg/kg LF could significantly improve average daily gain(P0.05);compared with the control group,LF could reduce the sum of Escherichia coli in caecum(P0.05).The supplementation of 500 mg/kg LF was significantly increased Lactobacillus number in caecum and colon(P0.05)as well as significantly reduced Escherichia coli number in colon(P0.05).The supplementation of 250 and 500 mg/kg LF were extremely significantly increased villus height to crypt depth ratio in duodenum,jejunum and ileum(P0.01).The results indicate that supplementation of LF can improve the growth performance and regulate intestinal microflora as well as mucosal morphology.The optimum supplemental level of LF is 250 mg/kg under this experimental condition.