Title Page
Contents
CHAPTER I. Growth performance, blood characteristics and immune responses of fattening pigs in different seasons 10
I. Introduction 11
II. Material and methods 14
1. Animals and diet 14
2. Temperature and sampling 15
3. Determination of blood corpuscle and chemical composition 16
4. Determination of antibodies 16
5. Determination of cytokine production 18
6. Statistical analyses 19
III. Results 20
1. Growth performance 20
2. Blood corpuscles 22
3. Chemical composition of serum 24
4. Antibodies as IgM, IgG and IgA 26
5. Cytokine production 28
IV. Discussion 30
V. Conclusion 37
CHAPTER II. Efficacy of added wormwood (Artemisia montana pampan) on the blood characteristics and immune responses of fattening pigs 38
I. Introduction 39
II. Material and methods 42
1. Animals 42
2. Experimental diet 42
3. Sampling 45
4. Determination of blood corpuscle and chemical composition 45
5. Detection of antibodies 46
6. Determination of cytokine productions 47
7. Determination of blood phagocytosis 48
8. Statistical analyses 49
III. Results 50
1. Growth performance and feed intake 50
2. Blood corpuscle 52
3. Chemical composition of serum 54
4. Antibody responses 55
5. Cytokine production 58
6. Phagocytic ability of macrophages 58
IV. Discussion 60
V. Conclusion 66
CHAPTER III. Effects of Bamboo Charcoal and Bamboo Vinegar as Antibiotic Alternatives on Blood Characteristics and Immune Responses in Fattening Pigs 67
I. Introduction 68
II. Material and Methods 71
1. Bamboo charcoal and bamboo vinegar 71
2. Animals and diets 72
3. Growth performance and blood analyses 74
4. Determination of antibodies 75
5. Statistical analyses 76
III. RESULTS 77
1. Growth performance and feed intake 77
2. Blood characteristics 79
3. Antibody responses 81
IV. Discussion 83
V. Conclusion 87
REFERENCES 88
ABSTRACT 100
Table 1. Growth performance and feed efficiency of fattening pigs in different seasons 21
Table 2. Blood characteristics of fattening pigs in different seasons 23
Table 3. serum chemical composition of fattening pigs in different seasons 25
Table 4. Antibodies as IgM, IgG and IgA concentration of fattening pigs in different seasons 27
Table 5. Cytokine production of fattening pigs in different seasons 29
Table 6. Composition of experimental diet 44
Table 7. The effects of added wormwood on the growth performance and feed intake in fattening pigs 51
Table 8. The effects of added wormwood on the concentration of blood corpuscles in fattening pigs 53
Table 9. The effects of added wormwood on the chemical composition of serum in fattening pigs 55
Table 10. The effects of added wormwood on the concentrations of total serum immunoglobulin (IgM, IgG and IgA) in fattening pigs 57
Table 11. The effects of added wormwood on the cytokine production and phagocytic activity of blood in fattening pigs 59
Table 12. Constituents of experimental diet 73
Table 13. Growth performance and feed efficiency of fattening pigs fed antibiotics, bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar 78
Table 14. Chemical composition of serum in fattening pigs fed antibiotics, bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar 80
Table 15. Antibody concentration of serum in fattening pigs fed antibiotics, bamboo charcoal or bamboo vinegar 82