ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2025.1605448
Safety evaluation of matrine and its impact as a feed additive on the production performance of piglets
Provisionally accepted
Zhigang Cao
Yalin WuXiangming Cong
Abdul HaseebPanpan SunHua Zhang
Kuohai Fan
Wei YinHuizhen Yang
Zhenbiao ZhangJia Zhong
Jianzhong WangYaogui Sun
Hongquan Li
Na Sun*- Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Previous studies have suggested that matrine may improve animal production performance, but its role and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Methods: Following the determination of the LD50 of matrine in ICR mice, the long-term toxic effects of matrine on SD-weaned rats were evaluated. 0.375, 0.75, 1.5, and 3 mg/kg matrine were added to the feed of weaned piglets, respectively. The feed intake and body weight of piglets were recorded to evaluate the growth-promoting effect of matrine. The feces and blood of weaned piglets were collected to explore the mechanism of matrine improving the growth performance of piglets. Results: Our findings imply that the LD50 of matrine in mice was 202.54 mg/kg, and matrine didn't cause any hazardous effects when administered to rats within the range of 24.5-50 mg/kg for 180 days. Furthermore, supplementation of 0.375 mg/kg, 0.75 mg/kg, and 1.5 mg/kg matrine can increase ADG (average daily weight gain), and ADFI (average daily feed intake), and decrease the FCR (food conversion rate) of piglets. Additionally, 0.375 mg/kg and 0.75 mg/kg matrine could increase the positive rate of porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) vaccine antibody in serum of piglets. We analyzed the correlation between intestinal flora, fecal metabolites, and growth performance through Mothur software and found that the impact of matrine on ADG, ADFI, and FCR might be associated to Gemmiger formicilis and thiamine. Conclusion: These findings revealed that matrine can improve the growth performance of weaned piglets by increasing the abundance of Gemmiger formicilis and thiamine content in feces.
Keywords: matrine, Weaned piglets, feed additives, growth performance, Gemmiger formicilis, Thiamine
Received: 10 Apr 2025; Accepted: 26 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cao, Wu, Cong, Haseeb, Sun, Zhang, Fan, Yin, Yang, Zhang, Zhong, Wang, Sun, Li and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Na Sun, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.