LAUSR

An experiment was conducted to determine effects of isoquinoline alkaloids (IQ) on growth performance and blood characteristics of weanling pigs fed corn-soybean meal-based diets. A total of 160 pigs (6.33 ± 0.61 kg) were allotted to 4 corn-soybean meal-based treatments, with 4 pigs per pen and 10 replicate pens per treatment. A 3-phase feeding program was used with d 0 to 8 as phase 1, d 8 to 21 as phase 2, and d 21 to 34 as phase 3. Within each phase, the 4 diets were identical except for the inclusion of IQ in the feed: 0, 90, 180, or 360 mg IQ/kg complete feed. Pig weights and the feed left in the feeders were recorded on the last d of each phase to calculate average daily gain and average gain:feed ratio. A blood sample was collected from 1 pig per pen on d 8, 21, and 34. Data were analyzed by linear and quadratic contrasts using the Proc MIXED of SAS with coefficients for unequally spaced treatments being generated from Proc IML. Results indicated that there were no differences among treatments in growth performance over the entire experimental period (Table 1). A quadratic increase (P < 0.05) of total protein in plasma was observed in phase 1, with the highest value in plasma of pigs fed the 180 mg/kg IQ diet, and there was a tendency for plasma urea N to increase in phases 2 and 3 (linear; P = 0.07) if IQ was added to the diet. In conclusion, although IQ supplementation did not effect overall growth performance, results indicate that absorption of amino acids was likely improved by inclusion of IQ in the diets as evidenced by the increased plasma urea nitrogen and increased total protein in plasma.