Zhou et al. research aims to investigate the effects of ESBM on performance, antioxidant status, immune response, and intestinal barrier function of nursery pigs in antibiotic free diets compared with EFS. A total of 32 Duroc (Landrace Yorkshire) barrows (initial body weight of 8.05 0.66 kg, weaned on d 28) were selected and allocated to two treatments with 16 replicates per treatment and one pig per replicate using a complete random design. The treatments included an EFS group (basal diet + 24% EFS; EFS) and an ESBM group (basal diet + 15% ESBM; ESBM). Corn was used to balance energy and diets were iso-nitrogenous at about 18% crude protein. The experiment lasted for 14 days and pigs were slaughtered for sampling on d 14. Compared with EFS, pigs fed ESBM showed enhanced (< 0.05) gain to feed ratio and average daily gain and a reduced (< 0.05) diarrhea score. These pigs had increased (< 0.05) contents p-Coumaric acid of glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, IgG, interleukin-10, and ferric reducing ability of plasma, as well as decreased (< 0.05) malondialdehyde, IL-6, IL-1, tumor necrosis factor (TNF-), interferon-, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, and diamine oxidase level in serum and TNF- level in the jejunal mucosa. Moreover, these pigs also showed enhanced (< 0.05) villus height/crypt depth in ileum, villus height in duodenum, protein expression of in jejunal mucosa, and fecal total volatile fatty acids and butyric acid contents. In conclusion, ESBM replacing EFS could enhance performance via improving immune p-Coumaric acid response, antioxidant status, gut morphology, and barrier function of nursery pigs in antibiotic free diets. Keywords: antioxidant status, enzyme-treated soybean meal, immune response, intestinal barrier function, performance 1. Introduction After weaning, pigs are often faced with severe diarrhea and reduced performance, which might be due to the diets change from sow milk to plant-based solid diets and their immature digestive system [1]. Soybean meal (SBM) p-Coumaric acid is usually a commonly used vegetable protein raw material in diets of swine. However, it contains soy antigens and many other anti-nutritional factors, which are detrimental to the health status and performance in pigs after weaning as well as the human nutrition as regards its undeclared presence in food [2,3]. After the soybean is usually extruded, extruded full-fat soybean (EFS) can not only supply significant amounts of both energy and protein to compound pig feeds, but also reduce the activities of urease and trypsin inhibitor (TI), which can increase the digestion, absorption, and utilization of nutrients [4]. Piao et al. [5] reported the EFS can be able to replace up to 50% of soybean meal in diet of nursery pigs. Rabbit Polyclonal to Cyclin E1 (phospho-Thr395) After biological treatment, the level of anti-nutritional factors in SBM could also be reduced, which has no harmful effect on performance of piglets [6,7]. Cervantes-Pahm and Stein [8] found that enzyme-treated SBM (ESBM) has higher crude protein p-Coumaric acid (CP) and amino acid content, and lower anti-nutritional factor content in comparison with SBM. In addition to reducing the content of most anti-nutritional factors, ESBM can also increase the content of small peptides, which has great potential for improving the health of nursery pigs [9]. Based on previous studies from our lab, ESBM can replace SBM or fermented SBM via enhancing performance, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant capacity, immunity, and intestinal morphology of nursery pigs [10]. Moreover, ESBM can also be used to replace antibiotics for reducing diarrhea and improving performance in nursery pigs based on the beneficial effects on antioxidant capacity, immunity, and intestinal barrier function [11]. At present, although EFS and ESBM are both popular for use in the diet of nursery pigs, there are few studies focusing on comparing the effect of ESBM and EFS on immune response and gut morphology in nursery pigs in antibiotics free diets. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of ESBM replacing EFS on p-Coumaric acid performance, immune response, antioxidant status, gut morphology, and barrier function of nursery pigs in antibiotics free diets. 2. Materials and Methods The animal procedures performed in this trial were agreed with by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of China Agricultural University (Beijing, China) (No. AW42601202-1-1). 2.1. ESBM and EFS Products The EFS was provided by Beijing Tongli Xingke of Agricultural Science and Technology Company Limited (Beijing, China). The ESBM (HP300) was supplied by Hamlet Protein A/S (Horsens, Denmark), which was produced from enzyme treated defatted and dehulled SBM using a patented bioconversion process [10]. The protease and non-starch polysaccharides enzymes were used to produce ESBM. The anti-nutrient factors in EFS included 10.2 mg/g glycinin, 7.6 mg/g -conglycinin, and 0.9 TIU/mg TI,.