Analysis of gastrointestinal responses revealed both shared and specific targets of zinc oxide and carbadox in weaned pigs

Antibiotics and pharmacological zinc supplementation were commonly used as growth promoters for several decades in the swine industry before being limited because of public health and environmental concerns. Further, the physiological and metabolic responses associated with their growth promotion effects are unclear. To characterize these responses induced by pharmacological zinc supplementation (2500 mg/kg) and carbadox (55 mg/kg), 192 post‐weaning pigs were fed basal and test diets for 43 days. Compared with basal, pharmacological zinc and carbadox independently improved growth performance. Pharmacological zinc increased gastric mucosa thickness compared with basal zinc, while carbadox increased intestinal villus:crypt ratio compared with non‐carbadox. Pharmacological zinc and carbadox independently reduced interleukin (IL)‐1β concentration compared with basal zinc and non‐carbadox. Pharmacological zinc increased IL‐1RA:IL‐1 ratio by 42% compared with basal zinc, while carbadox tended to increase the IL‐10 and IL10:IL‐12 ratio compared with non‐carbadox. Carbadox increased fecal concentrations of histidine and lysine compared with non‐carbadox. The independent effect of pharmacological zinc and carbadox on morphology and nutrient metabolism, and their shared effect on immunity may contribute to the additive effect on growth promotion. These results further confirmed the concept that growth promotion is multifactorial intervention. Therefore, elucidating growth‐promoting effects and searching for alternatives should include wide‐spectrum evaluation.