Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Galacto-mannan-oligosaccharides and Chitosan on Performance and Serum Immune Parameters of 28-day Weaned Piglets Challenged with Pathogenic E.coli

To determine the effects of galacto-mannan-oligosaccharides (GMOS) and chitosan (COS) on growth performance and serum immune parameters 40- 28-d weaned castrated Duroc × Landrace ×Yorkshire piglets (8.09 ± 1.87 kg) were challenged with three kinds of pathogenic E. coli (serotype 09, 0141 and 064) and randomly assigned to four treatment groups fed a maize-soybean meal diets containing either no addition (control), 250 mg/kg of lincomycin (LIN), 250 mg/kg of COS (COS) or 2000 mg/kg of GMOS (GMOS), respectively, in a four-week feeding experiment. The feed/gain of control group was poorer than that of other groups with no difference in average daily gain or feed intake. The serum concentrations of IgG, IgA, IgM, IL - 6, IL – 2 and IL - 1β in experimental groups were higher when compared to control group (P<0.05). The results indicate that GMOS and COS supplemented in weaned piglets diet can improve growth performance and enhance immune function.