Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the growth-promoting effects of dietary silicate (SIL) supplementation in weaned pigs, as well as its influence on body temperature and blood parameters following a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) challenge. A14 day feeding trial was conducted with a 7-day adaptation period. A total of 40 weaned crossbred piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) with an initial average body weight of 9.98 ± 0.45 kg were randomly assigned to two treatment groups in a randomized complete block design with 4 replicates of five pigs (two females and three castrated males) /pen. The test diets were CON (basal diet) and TRT (CON+ 0.1% SIL). On day 14 of the study, 10 pigs from each group administered an intraperitoneal injection of LPS at a dose of 100 µg/kg body weight, while the remaining 10 pigs received an equal volume of sterile saline. A 2 × 2 factorial design was used, with two dietary treatments (0% and 0.1% SIL) and two injection treatments (saline and LPS). The results demonstrated that pigs received SIL had significantly improved the average daily gain and average daily feed intake (P 0.05) and tended to improve feed conversion ratio (P 0.1). Although LPS injection significantly increased rectal temperature at 6 h and 12 h post-injection, SIL had no significant effect on body temperature or interaction with LPS. Prior to LPS injection, SIL significantly reduced (P 0.05) serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels. At 6 h post-injection, SIL significantly (P 0.05) attenuated the LPS-induced increases in IL-6 and TNF-α, alleviated the reduction in white blood cell counts (P 0.05), and increased the proportion of helper T cells (CD4+), indicating its anti-inflammatory effect. At 12 h post-injection, LPS-induced inflammation persisted, particularly in proportion of CD4+ and proportion of cytotoxic T cells (CD8+), while SIL continued to suppress the elevations of IL-6, TNF-α, and WBC (P 0.05). Furthermore, significant interactions between SIL and LPS were observed for IL-6 and TNF-α levels at both 6 h and 12 h post-injection. In summary, dietary SIL supplementation not only enhanced the growth performance of weaned pigs but also attenuated inflammatory responses and helped maintain immune cell homeostasis, highlighting its potential immunomodulatory function.
Yun et al. (2026) studied this question.