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Soy contributes to the environmental impact of Italian pork production. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a reduced soybean meal (SBM) and crude protein (CP) finishing diet on growth performance, health, behaviour and gut health of Italian heavy pigs. 1920 pigs (35.6 kg body weight; (BW)) balanced by sex and BW were assigned to the control diet (CO), or the treated diet (TRT) formulated by reducing SBM by 31%, 67% and 69% (replaced by pea and sunflower meal) in 3 feeding phases, respectively, and 1.2% CP in the third phase. 251 pigs were individually weighed at d11, d94 and d181. Feed intake (FI), behavioural indices and air gases at pen-level were monitored monthly. Faecal samples (20/pigs/group) for microbiota, ammonia and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) and hair for stress biomarkers were collected. Diet did not affect final BW, faecal ammonia, cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone. From d11–d94, the CO group had higher gain to feed (G:F) (p =.007), favourable faecal VFAs profile and a lower environmental ammonia (p <.0001). From d10–d181, the TRT diet increased the ADG (p =.04) and G:F (p =.01), reduced FI (p <.0001) and the lesions score index at d102 (p =.03) and promoted Methanobrevibacter (d94; padj. = 0.013) and Clostridium sensu stricto (d181; padj. = 0.001). Overall, the TRT diet combined with the stress of the transport and acclimatisation to the farm may limit the growth of pigs in the initial period, but it can increase their growth in the long term. Concluding, replacing 56% of SBM with sustainable alternatives seems promising for heavy pig. HIGHLIGHTS: Reducing dietary SBM and CP favoured the ADG and G:F of Italian heavy pigs under no stress condition. Reducing dietary SBM and CP did not stress the pigs and promoted positive behaviour and reduced tail lesion index. Reducing dietary SBM and CP slightly modulated specific faecal microbial taxa in growing-finishing pigs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the synchrony between amino acids (AAs) and glucose appearance in the blood can support the growth performance of weaned pigs fed a low crude protein (CP) diet. This can be achieved using a diet with a low amylose-to-amylopectin ratio (AM/AP). The aim of this experiment was to evaluate whether reducing the AM/AP by using a corn variety characterized by a high amylopectin content, in the weaning diet can sustain growth performance and improve the intestinal health of pigs fed a low-CP diet. At weaning (25 ± 2 d), 90 pigs were assigned to 3 treatment groups: 1) control group (CTR), fed a standard diet with a medium-high CP content and high AM/AP (days 0 to 13: 18.0% CP, 0.13 AM/AP; days 14 to 27: 16.6% CP, 0.30 AM/AP; days 28 to 49: 16.7% CP, 0.15 AM/AP); 2) a group fed a low-CP diet with a high AM/AP (LP) (days 0 to 13: 16.0% CP, 0.17 AM/AP; days 13 to 27: 14.7% CP, 0.17 AM/AP; days 28 to 49: 14.5% CP, 0.25 AM/AP); 3) a group fed a low CP and a low AM/AP diet (LPLA) (days 0 to 13: 16.0% CP, 0.09 AM/AP; days 14 to 27: 14.7% CP, 0.05 AM/AP; days 28 to 49: 14.5% CP, 0.09 AM/AP). Pigs were weighted weakly until day 49. Fecal samples were collected on days 10 and 42 (12 samples/group/timepoint) for ammonia and calprotectin content and microbiota profile characterization. Until day 28, body weight (BW) of pigs from CTR was not different from pigs of the LPLA group, whereas it was higher from pigs of the LP group (P  < 0.05). Thereafter, CTR group had greater BW compared with LP and LPLA groups for all the other timepoints considered (P  < 0.05). From days 0 to 7 LPLA group had a lower incidence of diarrhea than the LP group (P  = 0.04). On day 10, LPLA group had a greater alpha diversity (Shannon and InvSimpson indices), than the CTR (P  = 0.03) and LP (P  = 0.04) groups. On day 42, LPLA group had significantly greater InvSimpson diversity than LP group (P  = 0.028). On day 10, LP group was characterized by greater abundance of Lactobacillus (LDA score = 5.15, P  = 0.02), Clostridium - sensu - stricto -1 (LDA score = 4.90, P  = 0.02) and Oscillospiraceae NK4A214-group (LDA score = 4.87, P  = 0.004), whereas LPLA group was characterized by greater abundance of Prevotella (LDA score = 5.04, P  = 0.003) and Agathobacter (LDA score = 4.77, P  = 0.05). In conclusion, while reducing CP levels may negatively impact growth performance, when combined with higher amylopectin levels, it can reduce the incidence of diarrhea and increase fecal microbial diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Vitamin D deficiency and toxicity are common and well-recognized conditions in dogs. The metabolite 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 is the main endogenous biomarker for the evaluation of vitamin D3 status. In this study, we developed a simple analytical method for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 quantification in canine serum. The method was validated following the current European guidelines and yielded satisfactory results, representing a new tool for supporting clinicians in the correct diagnosis and monitoring of vitamin D3 status in dogs. Several studies have shown the importance of vitamin D3 supplementation in small animals. In dogs, a low vitamin D3 status is associated not only with bone metabolism but also with different kinds of disorders, such as congestive heart failure, gastrointestinal diseases, chronic kidney diseases, and some types of cancer. However, it is crucial to maintain balance and monitor the introduction of this essential nutrient through the diet because over-supplementation can result in toxicity. Due to the clinical importance of assessing the vitamin D3 status in small animal patients, a quick, simple, and highly performing analytical method for its measurement is needed. In this study, we describe the development of a novel liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry method for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 quantification in canine serum. The approach was successfully validated following current European guidelines, proving excellent linearity (R2 always ≥0.996), accuracy (always within ±13%) and precision (always <10%). The application of the validated approach to samples collected from 40 healthy dogs made possible the definition of a reliable reference interval for 25-hydroxyvitamin D3, the main biomarker of vitamin D3. In addition, variations below 5% in the results obtained quantifying the same samples using a water-based calibration curve demonstrated that a surrogate matrix may be used without affecting data accuracy. Thanks to its simplicity, the proposed technique represents a useful tool for supporting clinical routine and investigating correlations between serum concentrations of this metabolite and multiple diseases. Additionally, it could enable the monitoring of supplementation in small animal patients in veterinary clinical practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]