Silver nanoparticles as a potential antimicrobial additive for weaned pigs

Three experiments were carried out in order to determine the potential of silver nanoparticles as an additive in diets for weanling pigs. In Experiment 1, ileal contents of 4 pigs weaned 7 days before were incubated in vitro for 4 h at 37 °C with 0, 25, 50 and 100 μg Ag/g. Metallic silver (in colloi...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Animal feed science and technology Vol. 150; no. 3; pp. 259 - 269
Main Authors:	Fondevila, M., Herrer, R., Casallas, M.C., Abecia, L., Ducha, J.J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Amsterdam Elsevier B.V 14-04-2009 [New York, NY]: Elsevier Science Elsevier
Subjects:	animal growth Animal productions antimicrobial agents bioaccumulation Biological and medical sciences Clostridium histolyticum Clostridium perfringens digestibility enteropathogens feed additives Feed and pet food industries feed intake feed processing FISH Food industries Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology growth promotion intestinal microorganisms intestines Lactobacillus liveweight gain Microbiota nanotechnology nutritive value piglet feeding piglets Pigs Probiotics protective effect risk assessment silver Silver nanoparticles Terrestrial animal productions Tissue retention Vertebrates weanlings Pigs Probiotics Tissue retention Microbiota FISH SEM aNDFom Silver nanoparticles Probiotic Farming animal Microflora Retention Antimicrobial agent Pig Tissue Vertebrata Additive Meat animals Mammalia Artiodactyla Ungulata
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Three experiments were carried out in order to determine the potential of silver nanoparticles as an additive in diets for weanling pigs. In Experiment 1, ileal contents of 4 pigs weaned 7 days before were incubated in vitro for 4 h at 37 °C with 0, 25, 50 and 100 μg Ag/g. Metallic silver (in colloidal form) linearly reduced coliforms (P=0.003) and lactobacilli (P=0.041) concentration, but did not affect the lactobacilli proportion compared with the control. In Experiment 2, three groups of 5 weaned pigs were given a diet with 0, 20 or 40 mg Ag/kg. The second week after weaning daily growth of pigs increased linearly (P=0.007) with the dose of silver nanoparticles. A trend (P=0.073) for a linear reduction in the ileal concentration of coliforms was observed by culture counts, but lactobacilli remained unaffected. There were no differences among treatments in the ileal concentration of coliforms or lactobacilli measured by FISH. However, the concentration of total bacteria (P=0.010) and Atopobium (P=0.001) decreased at a decreasing rate. No differences were detected in the other bacterial groups tested, except for a lowest concentration of the Clostridium perfringens/ Clostridium histolyticum group in 20 mg Ag/kg (P=0.012). No treatment effect was detected in histological examination of ileal mucosa. In Experiment 3, productive performance and silver retention in tissues with 0, 20 or 40 mg Ag/kg diet were studied with 6 lots of 4 piglets per treatment in five weeks after weaning. Feed intake was highest in treatment with 20 mg Ag/kg (P<0.05). No effect was observed on apparent digestibility coefficients. After 5 weeks, there was no silver retention in skeletal muscles or kidneys, but it was observed, although in minimal proportions, in liver (1.354 and 2.445 μg Ag/g dry liver for 20 and 40 mg Ag/kg). The potential effect of metallic silver as a dietary additive on intake and growth of weaned piglets could be mediated through its antimicrobial properties, either against certain bacterial groups or reducing the microbial load of the small intestine; however, other beneficial effects over the host metabolism cannot be discarded.
Bibliography:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2008.09.003 ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0377-8401 1873-2216
DOI:	10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2008.09.003