This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementation of Wakame seaweed stalks on the immunity and intestinal microflora of pigs. Three separate experiments were performed: Relatively young (start at 20-30 kg; Experiments 1 and 2) and fattening period (70 kg; Experiment 3). All pigs (including the control group) were fed the same commercial feed, free from antibiotic additives, but in the feed for the treatment groups, 1% seaweed powder was added. There were no group differences observed in daily weight gain and feed intake in Experiments 1 and 2 between groups; however, daily weight gain was significantly higher in the treatment group compared to the control group in Experiment 3. The percentage of peripheral blood natural killer cells of the treatment group was significantly higher than that of the control group in all experiments. Although addition of seaweed changed the gene expression of cytokine and toll-like receptors of the small intestinal Peyer's patches slightly, seaweed seems to alter intestinal microflora preferentially, for instance, there was an increase in Lactobacillus and a decrease of Escherichia coli observed. These results suggest that Wakame seaweed can be used as supplement for pig feed to improve the gut health and immunity of pigs.

中文翻译：

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在动物饲料中添加裙带菜（Undaria pinnatifida）茎可增强猪的免疫反应并改善肠道菌群。


本研究旨在评估补充裙带菜海藻茎对猪的免疫力和肠道菌群的影响。进行了三个单独的实验：相对年轻（从20-30公斤开始；实验1和2）和育肥期（70公斤；实验3）。所有猪（包括对照组）均饲喂相同的商品饲料，不含抗生素添加剂，但在治疗组的饲料中添加了1%的海藻粉。实验1和2中，组间日增重和采食量没有观察到组间差异；然而，实验3中治疗组的日增重明显高于对照组。所有实验中治疗组的外周血自然杀伤细胞百分比均显着高于对照组。虽然海藻的添加稍微改变了小肠派尔氏集结的细胞因子和Toll样受体的基因表达，但海藻似乎优先改变肠道微生物区系，例如观察到乳酸菌增加和大肠杆菌减少。这些结果表明裙带菜可以作为猪饲料的补充剂，以改善猪的肠道健康和免疫力。