Meta-analysis of the effect of sodium butyrate supplementation on the performance and intestinal morphology of postweaning piglets

Sodium butyrate supplementation is a nutritional approach to improve the barrier and digestive functions of the intestine in monogastrics. However, to date there is no meta-analysis summarizing the effects of this additive on the performance and intestinal morphology of postweaning piglets. A systematic search on Pubmed and Google Scholar combining the following keywords: [Piglet] OR [Pig] AND [Butyrate] OR [Butyric acid] AND [Performance] OR [Gut morphology] was performed and identified 11 studies investigating the effect of sodium butyrate supplementation on performance and/or intestinal morphology in postweaning piglets. Data were expressed as a percentage of unsupplemented treatment and analyzed with Minitab software using a general linear model with the study as a fixed factor and the dose of supplementation as a covariate. Over the first 2 weeks after weaning, sodium butyrate supplementation was associated with improved body weight gain (P = 0.004), feed intake (P = 0.010) and feed conversion (P = 0.002). Over the complete experimental period, the supplementation was associated with improved gain (P = 0.025) and a trend toward increased feed intake (P = 0.064). No significant effect of supplementation was observed on feed efficiency (P > 0.05) or on intestinal morphology parameters (P > 0.05). This study confirms the effectiveness of sodium butyrate supplementation to improve piglet performance, especially during the first days after weaning. This effect does not seem to be mediated by an improvement of gut morphology.

Key Words: piglets, performance, butyrate, gut health, meta-analysis.

Published in the proceedings of the 10th Symposium on Gut Health in Production of Food Animals 2022, St. Louis, USA.