Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2024 Feb 15;13(2):236.
doi: 10.3390/antiox13020236.

Dietary Supplementation of Tannins: Effect on Growth Performance, Serum Antioxidant Capacity, and Immunoglobins of Weaned Piglets-A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Emmanuel Nuamah  1 , Junior Isaac Celestin Poaty Ditengou  1 , Fabrice Hirwa  1 , Inhyeok Cheon  1 , Byungho Chae  1 , Nag-Jin Choi  1
Affiliations
Review

Dietary Supplementation of Tannins: Effect on Growth Performance, Serum Antioxidant Capacity, and Immunoglobins of Weaned Piglets-A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis

Emmanuel Nuamah et al. Antioxidants (Basel). .

Abstract

In recent years, the swine industry has witnessed the withdrawal of antibiotics and continuous regulation of zinc and copper oxides in the early-life nutrition of piglets. Due to this development, alternative additives from plant sources have been extensively explored. Therefore, this study's objective was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with tannins on weaned piglets' growth performance, serum antioxidant capacity, and serum immune status using a systematic review and meta-analysis approach. A total of 16 studies with parameters of interest were deemed eligible after a two-step screening process following a comprehensive literature search in the scientific databases of Web of Science, Scopus, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The inclusion criteria were mainly (1) studies involving basal diet supplemented with tannins and (2) studies with the quantification of tannin doses, while the exclusion criteria were (1) studies with pre- and post-weaning pigs and (2) challenged studies. Applying the random-effects models, Hedges' g effect size of supplementation with tannins was calculated using R software to determine the standardized mean difference (SMD) at a 95% confidence interval. Sub-group analysis and meta-regression further explored heterogeneity (PSMD < 0.05, I2 > 50%, n ≥ 10). Supplementation with tannins reduced the feed conversion ratio (p < 0.01) but increased the final body weight (p < 0.01) of weaned piglets. Chestnut and grape seed proanthocyanidin tannin sources yielded higher effects on growth performance. In addition, meta-regression models indicated that tannin dosage and supplementation duration were directly associated with tannins' effectiveness on productive performance. In the serum, the concentration of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, and total antioxidant capacity were elevated (p < 0.01) in response to tannin supplementation, whereas malondialdehydes was reduced (p < 0.01). Likewise, increased immunoglobin M and G levels (p < 0.01) were detected. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with tannins, particularly with chestnut and grape seed proanthocyanidins, increases the productivity of weaned piglets. At the same time, it is a possible nutritional strategy to mitigate oxidative stress and stimulate gut health. Thus, supplementing chestnut and grape seed proanthocyanidin tannins in the early phase of swine production could be used to alleviate the incidence of diarrhea.

Keywords: antibiotics; antioxidants; early-life nutrition; immunity; meta-analysis; performance; tannins; weaned piglets.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Systematic literature search and selection process. The PRISMA diagram details the applied search and selection process of this study (PRISMA checklist is in Supplementary Materials).
Figure 2
Figure 2
A bar chart of the risk of bias classification of the included studies based on the Cochrane Collaboration’s SYRCLE Risk of Bias tool for animal studies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ average daily gain (ADG). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in ADG, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in ADG.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ average daily feed intake (ADFI). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in ADFI, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in ADFI.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ final body weight (FBW). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in FBW, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in FBW.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ feed conversion ratio (FCR). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in FCR, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in FCR.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum catalase (CAT). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in CAT, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in CAT.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum superoxide dismutase (SOD). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in SOD, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in SOD.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum malondialdehydes (MDAs). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in MDA, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in MDA.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in GSH-Px, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in GSH-Px.
Figure 11
Figure 11
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in T-AOC, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in T-AOC.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum immunoglobin A (IgA). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in IgA, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in IgA.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum immunoglobin M (IgM). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in IgM, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in IgM.
Figure 14
Figure 14
Forest plot of the effect size or standardized mean difference and 95% confidence interval of tannins on weaned piglets’ serum immunoglobin M (IgG). The solid vertical black line represents the mean difference of zero or no effect. Points to the left of the solid vertical black line represent a reduction in IgG, while points to the right of the solid line indicate an increase in IgG.
Figure 15
Figure 15
Effect of GSP dosage on ADFI showing a decreasing trend of ADFI’s standardized mean difference following the increasing dosage of GSP supplementation.
Figure 16
Figure 16
Showing a decreasing trend of standardized mean difference following the increasing dosage of tannin supplementation duration on weaned piglets’ growth performance: (a) impact of chestnut on ADG; (b) impact of GMTA on ADG; (c) impact of chestnut on FBW; (d) impact of GMTA on FCR.
Figure 17
Figure 17
Funnel plot assessment for publication bias on weaned piglets’ growth outcomes and serum malondialdehydes: (a) ADFI; (b) ADG; (c) FBW; (d) FCR; (e) MDA.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Luise D., Chalvon-Demersay T., Lambert W., Bosi P., Trevisi P. Meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of the reduction of dietary crude protein on the gut health of post-weaning pigs. Ital. J. Anim. Sci. 2021;20:1386–1397. doi: 10.1080/1828051X.2021.1952911. - DOI
    1. Li J. Current status and prospects for in-feed antibiotics in the different stages of pork production—A review. Asian-Australas. J. Anim. Sci. 2017;30:1667. doi: 10.5713/ajas.17.0418. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hedemann M., Jensen B. Variations in enzyme activity in stomach and pancreatic tissue and digesta in piglets around weaning. Arch. Anim. Nutr. 2004;58:47–59. doi: 10.1080/00039420310001656677. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Moeser A.J., Pohl C.S., Rajput M. Weaning stress and gastrointestinal barrier development: Implications for lifelong gut health in pigs. Anim. Nutr. 2017;3:313–321. doi: 10.1016/j.aninu.2017.06.003. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Campbell J.M., Crenshaw J.D., Polo J. The biological stress of early weaned piglets. J. Anim. Sci. Biotechnol. 2013;4:19. doi: 10.1186/2049-1891-4-19. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Grants and funding

This research received no external funding.

LinkOut - more resources