tiamulin and Weight-Gain

In an earlier study, the continuous medication of broiler feed with a combination of tiamulin (TIA; 20 mg/kg), chlortetracycline (CTC; 60 mg/kg), and the ionophore anticoccidial salinomycin (SAL; 60 mg/kg) caused an initial increase in BW and feed efficiency (FE; g of weight gain/kg of feed intake). However, as doses increased to combinations of 30 mg/kg of TIA and 90 mg/kg of CTC or 50 mg/kg of TIA and 150 mg/kg of CTC, there was a dose-related reduction in growth rate and FE. This was thought to be due to the interaction between TIA and SAL. In this study, using a protocol similar to the previous trial, broiler chicks were administered SAL at 60 mg/kg via the feed and the same inclusion rates of TIA + CTC. However, instead of feeding the birds continuously, considering the cost of TIA and possibly to compensate for the depressed growth attributable to the interaction with SAL, they were pulse-dosed for 1 to 10 d and again at 21 to 27 d, and the whole trial lasted 35 d to see if the intermittent pulses might reduce production losses. A total of 200 straight-run 1-d-old broiler chicks (Hubbard classic) were randomly distributed into 4 groups, with each group consisting of 5 cages containing 10 birds. The 20 cages were allocated to the 4 treatment groups on a random basis. The control diet, containing only SAL at 60 mg/kg, was fed to all birds throughout the 35-d trial, including the period during the gaps between dosing (i.e., d 11 to 20 and d 28 to 35). Feed and water were available for the whole trial period. Several serum enzymes (creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase, and aspartate aminotransferase) were determined from blood samples taken on d 35. Blood samples were also collected at 1, 19, and 35 d of age and were examined for antibody titers to Mycoplasma gallisepticum and Mycoplasma synoviae. Necropsy and histopathology of the birds (n = >or=4) were conducted during weekly intervals. There was no significant difference in weight gain, feed intake, and FE when the groups treated with TIA + CTC were compared with the control group (P > 0.05). There was no relationship between mortality and inclusion rates of the medication. No clinical signs of an interaction were exhibited during the trial, which was supported by necropsy and serum enzyme results. Maternally derived antibodies against M. gallisepticum were identified at the start of the trial but disappeared within 19 d, and infection with M. gallisepticum or M. synoviae was found neither serologi

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Chickens; Chlortetracycline; Diterpenes; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Administration Schedule; Drug Interactions; Female; Male; Pyrans; Weight Gain

The pleuromutilin antibiotic tiamulin (TIA) is known to produce a variety of negative interactive effects when it is administered in combination with several anticoccidial ionophores. A 35-d growth study was performed in cages to evaluate the compatibility of TIA when it was administered concurrently with the poly-ether ionophore anticoccidial semduramicin (SEM). Tiamulin and SEM, both alone and in combination, were administered to 10 replicates of female broilers arranged in a completely randomized block design. Tiamulin was administered in drinking water (250 mg of TIA/kg of water) from d 15 through 19 of the study, whereas SEM was incorporated in feed (25 mg/kg) from placement to the conclusion of the test. Water consumption was determined during the period of concurrent administration of the drugs and weekly measurements of feed intake and bird performance were recorded. In addition, hematocrit, blood cell counts, serum protein, albumin, glucose, uric acid, electrolytes, and activities of several enzymes were determined from blood samples taken at d 35. Results indicated that simultaneous administration of TIA and SEM during the third week of the trial reduced water and feed intake resulting in a temporary growth depression. Feed efficiency was transiently affected during the period of coadministration. However, during the fourth week of the test, negative effects in body weight were not observed for any treatment and feed conversion improved for birds concurrently receiving TIA + SEM. By the termination of the experiment, no adverse effects were observed in final performance for any treatment. Histopathological and hematological parameters were unaffected by treatment at d 35 of the test. These results demonstrated that simultaneous administration of TIA and SEM produced only temporary impairments of water and feed consumption that transiently influenced performance. Neither mortality nor long-term effects on performance variables occurred in broilers.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animals; Chickens; Coccidiostats; Diterpenes; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Health; Nigericin; Water; Weight Gain

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of mixed fermented medicinal plants (FMP) obtained from exudates of Gynura procumbens, Rehmannia glutinosa and Scutellaria baicalensis fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Bacillus licheniformis, respectively, on growth performance in growing pigs in order to assess the feasibility of using FMP as an alternative to antibiotic growth promoters (AGP), such as tiamulin. A total of 150 growing pigs (body wieght 25.50 ± 2.50 kg) were used in a 6 weeks experiment and randomly divided into five groups with six replicates of five growing pigs each. The treatments were NC (basal diet), basal diet with 33 ppm tiamulin (PC), basal diet with FMP 0.05% (FMP 0.05), basal diet with FMP 0.1% (FMP 0.1) and basal diet with FMP 0.2% (FMP 0.2). Overall, body weight gain, feed conversion rate, the digestibility of dry matter and gross energy, noxious gas emission all improved with FMP supplementation as compared to NC. Taken together, these results suggest the feasibility of using FMP as an alternative to AGP for enhancing the growth performance, nutrient digestibility and excreta noxious gas emission of growing pigs.

Topics: Animal Feed; Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Bacillus; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Digestion; Diterpenes; Drugs, Chinese Herbal; Fermentation; Gases; Lactobacillus plantarum; Plants, Medicinal; Rehmannia; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Scutellaria; Swine; Weight Gain

SPF pigs aged 10 weeks were infected intranasally with Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae serotype 2. After the onset of clinical symptoms of respiratory disease, which occurred 20 h post-infection, parenteral treatment with ceftiofur, danofloxacin, enrofloxacin, penicillin or tiamulin was initiated (n = 8 per group). Untreated groups, of which one was infected, served as controls. The uninfected control group did not show any signs of disease, while the infected control group was severely affected by the infection and also expressed a decreased weight gain following the challenge. Based on clinical signs, the magnitude of pathological lesions in the respiratory tract found at necropsy performed 17 days post-infection and the number of reisolates of A. pleuropneumoniae made at necropsy, treatments with the quinolones (danofloxacin and enrofloxacin) and the cephalosporine (ceftiofur) were superior to those with penicillin and tiamulin. The latter groups also developed antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae to a larger extent. Some of the pigs treated with ceftiofur and danofloxacin developed antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae, and the microbe was reisolated from approximately 50% of these animals. In contrast, pigs treated with enrofloxacin did not develop antibodies to A. pleuropneumoniae, and the challenge strain was not found at necropsy. The performance with respect to daily weight gain and feed conversion corresponded well with the clinical signs developed and the findings made at necropsy. The decreased growth recorded during the acute phase of the disease was, to a large extent, caused by a reduced feed intake.

Topics: Actinobacillus Infections; Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Anti-Infective Agents; Body Weight; Cephalosporins; Diterpenes; Enrofloxacin; Fluoroquinolones; Lung; Lung Diseases; Penicillins; Quinolones; Swine; Swine Diseases; Weight Gain

Eighteen 4-week-old pigs were used in a study to evaluate tiamulin in drinking water for control of experimentally induced Streptococcus suis type-2 infection. Pigs in groups A and B (n = 6 pigs/group) were aerosolized with a logarithmic-growth phase culture of S suis type 2, whereas pigs in group C (n = 6 pigs) served as noninfected and nonmedicated controls. After exposure to S suis, pigs in group B were given 180 mg of tiamulin/L of drinking water for 5 days. Pigs in group B consumed more feed (P = 0.009) and gained body weight faster (P = 0.02) than did pigs in group A. Pigs in group A had higher rectal temperature (P = 0.05) for up to 7 days after S suis exposure, higher clinical sign scores (P = 0.008), higher serum cortisol concentration on days 7 and 14, higher gross lesion scores (P = 0.03), and higher microscopic lesion scores (P = 0.01) than did pigs in groups B and C. Gross and microscopic lesions in pigs of groups A and B included meningitis, pneumonia, pleuritis, pericarditis, peritonitis, and synovitis of variable severity. Streptococcus suis type 2 was recovered from tissue specimens of 2 group-A pigs and 1 group-B pig. Data indicated that tiamulin administered via drinking water significantly reduced the effects of S suis type-2 infection.

Topics: Administration, Oral; Animals; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Body Temperature; Diterpenes; Drinking; Eating; Streptococcal Infections; Swine; Swine Diseases; Weight Gain