Effects of Gynostemma on Performance,Blood Biochemical Parameters and Immune Function in Weaning Piglets

The study uas conclucted to study the effects of diet containing Gynostemma on the performance,blood biochemical parameters and immune function of weaning piglets.A total of 60 piglets at 28 days old were selected and assigned randomly into four groups with three replicates in each group and 5 pigs per replicate.The piglets in each group had statistically no significantly different body weight.The piglets in the control group were fed basal diet.The piglets in group A,group B and group C were fed the basal diet supplemented with Gynostemma at 0.5%,1.0% and 2.0% diet respectively.The trial period was 28 d.The results showed that compared with control group,when diets supplemented with 1.0% Gynostemma,it significantly improved the piglets' average daily gain(ADG) and average daily feed intake(ADFI)(P0.05),decreased the feed/gain(P0.05),It also significantly reduced blood urea nitrogen(BUN)(P0.05),increased total protein(TP),albumin(ALB) and globulin(GLO)(P0.05),reduce total cholesterol(CHO) and triglyceride(TG) levels(P 0.05),increased high density lipoprotein(HDL)(P 0.05),and the concentration of glutamic pyruvic transaminase(GPT) and glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase(GOT)had no significant difference among all groups(P 0.05),Compared with control group,when diets supplemented with 0.5% and 2.0% Gynostemma,the difference was not significant.In addition,Gynostemma could improve the content of IgA and IgG in blood serum,and raise the ratio of CD4+/CD8+of peripheral blood,thus enhance the humoral immunity and the cellular immunity of weaning piglets.These results indicated that when the concentration of Gynostemma in basal diet was 1.0%,it could significantly improve the performance,blood biochemical parameters and immune function of weaning piglets.