Effects of copper-exchanged montmorillonite, as alternative to antibiotic, on diarrhea, intestinal permeability and proinflammatory cytokine of weanling pigs

• Copper-exchanged montmorillonites can be an alternative to antibiotic in weaned pigs.
• No difference was observed in the in vivo efficiency of the Cu*Ca-MMT and Cu*Na-MMT.
• Both of Cu-MMT improved growth performance and alleviated diarrhea in weaned pigs.
• Both of Cu-MMT lowered Clostridium and Escherichia coli in ileum and proximal colon.
• Both of Cu-MMT reduced weaning-induced inflammation and improved intestinal barrier.

The two copper-exchanged montmorillonites (Cu-MMT), Cu2 +-exchanged Ca-montmorillonite (Cu*Ca-MMT) and Cu2 +-exchanged Na-montmorillonite (Cu*Na-MMT), were used as alternative to chlortetracycline on growth performance, diarrhea, intestinal permeability and proinflammatory cytokine in weanling pigs. Ninety six piglets weaned at 21 ± 1 d age were allocated to the four groups: (1) control; (2) control + 1.5 g/kg Cu*Ca-MMT; (3) control + 1.5 g/kg Cu*Na-MMT; and (4) control + 75 mg/kg chlortetracycline. The results showed that as compared with the control group, supplementation with Cu*Ca-MMT and Cu*Na-MMT both improved (P < 0.05) average daily gain (ADG) and gain/feed ratio, lowered (P < 0.05) fecal scores and the total viable counts of Clostridium and Escherichia coli in ileum and proximal colon, reduced (P < 0.05) plasma d-lactate and diamine oxidase (DAO), decreased (P < 0.05) interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in ileal mucosal. No difference was observed in the efficiency of the Cu*Ca-MMT group and Cu*Na-MMT group. Supplementation of Cu-MMT was as effective as chlortetracycline for alleviating diarrhea and inflammation, and improving intestinal microflora and mucosal barrier integrity of weanling pigs. The results indicated that Cu-MMT could be a good candidate as an antibiotic alternative in weanling pigs.