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The study was conducted to evaluate effects of short-term or long-term administration of 25- hydroxyvitamin D3 [25(OH)VD3] on growth performance, bone characteristics, meat quality in growing pigs. A total of 144 pigs were allocated into three groups and fed diet contained 2000 IU vitamin D3 (VD3) or 25(OH)VD3 for a short-term and long-term administration. The results showed that long-term 25(OH)VD3 administration increased BW on d 56 and average daily gain in d 28–56. Furthermore, long-term feeding increased bone calcium content and mRNA expressions of calcium ion channel protein and anti-oxidases genes in the liver. In short, adding 25(OH)VD3 to the diet improved weight gain, bone characteristics, deposition of polyunsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant capacity compared with the VD3, while the long-term feeding of 25(OH)VD3 was particularly effective focusing on calcium deposition and mRNA expression of GPx1, Cu/Zn SOD and CaBP-D9K.

The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of 25(OH)VD3 with different inclusion levels of 0, 25, 50 and 75 μg/kg in the diet on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, bone properties and pork quality in growing-finishing pigs. The results showed that the average daily gain (p < 0.05) and body weight (p < 0.10) of pigs showed a trend of increasing quadratically as inclusion levels of 25(OH)VD3 increased. Dietary supplementation of 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 increased calcium digestibility compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p < 0.05), and calcium and phosphorus digestibility increased quadratically as inclusion levels of 25(OH)VD3 increased (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 increased concentrations of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and decreased contents of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids in the longissimus dorsi of pigs (p < 0.05). The addition of 25, 50 and 75 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 to the diet increased breaking strength and bone stiffness in the tibia compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation of 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 improved the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), and increased the messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of Cu/Zn SOD in the longissimus dorsi compared with the 0 μg/kg group (p < 0.05). Supplementing 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 improved the mRNA expression of calcium-binding protein D9k (CaBP-D9k) and D28k (CaBP-D28K) in the liver compared with the 0 μg/kg 25(OH)D3 group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, a diet with an added dose of 50 μg/kg 25(OH)VD3 showed a greatest growth performance of growing-finishing pigs, and 25(OH)VD3 enhanced calcium deposition and antioxidant capacity in the longissimus dorsi, which may be associated with improved expression of calcium ion channel proteins.

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)VD3) and Vitamin D3 (VD3) supplemented in the diet of weaned piglets on their growth performance, bone quality, intestinal integrity, immune function and antioxidant capacity. A total of 192 weaned piglets were allocated into four groups and they were fed a control diet containing 2000 IU VD3 (negative control, NC), NC + 100 ppm colistin sulfate (positive control, PC), NC + 2000 IU VD3 (VD3) and NC + 2000 IU 25(OH)VD3 (25(OH)VD3). The results showed that 25(OH)VD3 improved the growth performance, bone quality and antioxidase activity of piglets compared with the other groups. Meanwhile, 25(OH)VD3 up-regulated ileal mRNA expressions of tight junction proteins and host defense peptides. The VD3 group had an increased intestinal sIgA content and mRNA expression of pBD-1 compared with the NC group. Both groups of VD3 and 25(OH)VD3 altered the microbial β-diversity compared with the NC group, and 25(OH)VD3 increased ileal concentrations of acetate and butyrate. In conclusion, our findings indicated that a regular dosage of 2000 IU VD3 in the weaned piglets’ diet did not achieve optimal antioxidant capacity and immune function. 25(OH)VD3 had better growth performance than VD3 at the same inclusion level, which is associated with the improved intestinal integrity and antioxidant capacity.