Abstract:

The effects of sodium dehydroacetate on antioxidant capacity in weaned piglets were investigated. A total of 192
crossbreds (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) piglets at 10 days of age were randomly divided into 4 groups with 4 replicates
consisting of 12 animals each. They were weaned and fed with basal diet (control group), basal diet supplemented with
0.02% (group Ⅰ), 0.1% (group Ⅱ) and 0.2% (group Ⅲ) sodium dehydroacetate, respectively. The experiment lasted for 42
days. The results showed that when comparing with the control group: 1) the weight of the 51-day-old piglets in group Ⅲ
was significantly decreased by 13.26% (P ＜ 0.05), while groups Ⅰ and Ⅱ had no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05); 2)
the serum total superoxide dismutate (T-SOD) in group Ⅲ was decreased highly significantly (P ＜ 0.01), in addition to a
significant reduction in serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) (P ＞ 0.05). But the serum antioxidant indices in groups Ⅰ
and Ⅱ had no significant difference; and 3) the liver malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in groups I (P ＜ 0.01) and Ⅱ
(P ＜ 0.05) but not in group Ⅲ were increased significantly. These results indicate that the diet containing 0.2% sodium
dehydroacetate could significantly decrease the TAC in piglets. Thus some potential health risks may be caused by using
high levels of sodium dehydroacetate in food.

Key words: sodium dehydroacetate, weaned piglets, antioxidant capacity