Effect of cordyceps militaris on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal epithelium functions in weaned pigs

To explore the effects of cordyceps militaris (CM) on growth performance and intestinal epithelium functions, 180 weaned pigs were randomly assigned into 5 treatments with 6 replicate pens per treatment (6 pigs per pen). Pigs were fed with basal diet (control) or basal diet supplemented with 100, 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg CM. The trial lasted for 42 d, and pigs from the control and optimal-dose groups (based on growth performance) were picked for blood and tissue collection (n= 6). Results showed that CM elevated the average daily gain (ADG) and decreased the ratio of feed intake to gain (F:G) in the weaned pigs (P < 0.05). CM supplementation at 100 mg/kg improved the digestibilities of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), and gross energy (GE) (P < 0.05). CM not only increased the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), and catalase (CAT) but also increased the concentration of interleukin-10 (IL-10) in serum (P <0.05). The serum concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), d-lactate, and diamine oxidase (DAO) were reduced by CM (P < 0.05). Interestingly, CM elevated the villus height and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth in the duodenum and jejunum and increased the activities of duodenal sucrase and maltase (P < 0.05). Moreover, CM elevated the expression levels of tight-junction proteins ZO-1, claudin-1, and occluding, as well as critical functional genes such as the fatty acid transport protein (FATP1), cationic amino acid transporter 1 (CAT1), and NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2)in the duodenum and jejunum (P < 0.05). Importantly, CM increased the concentrations of acetic acid and butyric acid, and elevated the abundances of Bacillusand Lactobacillusin the cecum and colon, respectively (P < 0.05). These results indicated potential benefits of CM in improving the growth of weaned pigs, and such effect may be tightly associated with improvement in antioxidant capacity and intestinal epithelium functions.Cordyceps militaris supplementation could improve the growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal functions in weaned pigs.In last decades, antibiotics have been widely used as growth-promoting agents to relieve weaning stress and prevent intestinal injury. However, overdose and misuse of antibiotics led to bacterial resistance and drug residues in animal products. Therefore, the development of healthy alternatives for pork production has attracted considerable research interest worldwide. Cordyceps militaris (CM) is an entomopathogenic fungus with various biological effects, including anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, and antioxidant activities. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary CM supplementation on growth performance, antioxidant capacity, and intestinal epithelium functions in weaned pigs. Our results showed that CM supplementation could enhance the growth performance by improving antioxidant capacity and intestinal epithelium functions.