Sodium butyrate improved intestinal barrier in rabbits

• Main Authors: Chenyang Li, Xiaoyang Chen, Bin Zhang, Lei Liu, Fuchang Li
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2020-12-01
• Series: Italian Journal of Animal Science
• Subjects: rabbit; sodium butyrate; intestinal development; intestinal flora; intestinal immune barrier
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1828051X.2020.1847209
• ISSN: 1594-4077; 1828-051X

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of sodium butyrate as a substitute for antibiotics on the production performance and intestinal barrier of meat rabbits. Six hundred healthy weaned rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (40 replicates per group): fed a basal diet (control), fed a basal diet containing 0.5% sodium butyrate (sodium butyrate), or fed a basal diet containing 0.004% antibiotics (antibiotic). The trial included 7 days of adaptation and 28 days of testing. After adding sodium butyrate to the feed, the mortality and diarrhoea rates of the weaned meat rabbits were reduced, and the composition of their intestinal flora was improved. Treatment significantly increased the villus height of the ileum (p < .05), decreased the crypt depth of the jejunum, and increased the V/C ratio of intestinal tissue. The contents of IL-4, IFN-γ and SIgA in the intestinal tissue were significantly increased, indicating improvement of the intestinal immune barrier. The expression of occludin in the duodenum also increased significantly. To sum up, sodium butyrate can be added to the diet of growing meat rabbits instead of antibiotics. The physical barrier, immune barrier and microbial barrier of rabbit intestine were improved. Rabbit farmers can use sodium butyrate to prepare a new type of eco-friendly feed.Highlights Antibiotics in rabbit feed can be replaced by sodium butyrate. The addition of sodium butyrate to feed can reduce the mortality and diarrhoea rate of rabbits. Sodium butyrate can improve the intestinal barrier of rabbits.