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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Agroecosystems Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #420678
Research Project: Physiological, Microbiological, and Nutritional Mechanisms to Maintain Animal Productivity in the Absence of Antibiotics

Location: Agroecosystems Management Research

Title: Acute enhanced liquid aspirin administration improves performance and intestinal function in nursery pigs

Author
item Pearce, Sarah
item Kerr, Brian

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/3/2025
Publication Date: 2/8/2025
Citation: Pearce, S.C., Kerr, B.J. 2025. Acute enhanced liquid aspirin administration improves performance and intestinal function in nursery pigs. Journal of Animal Science. 103. https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf037.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaf037

Interpretive Summary: Traditional forms of aspirin are used in both humans and animals for pain management and to help reduce inflammation. However, there are a lot of side effects to aspirin use including damage to the stomach and intestines due to the usual form of aspirin. Enhanced liquid aspirin (ELA) is a stable liquid aspirin compound that contains the positive properties of aspirin, without the components which cause the added damage to the intestinal tract. ELA was provided to pigs for 5-d and then body weight and additional measures of intestinal health were measured. ELA dosing was able to increase body weight and increase several markers which indicate improved intestinal function, without causing any known negative side effects. The findings of this study could be used by pork producers, veterinarians and other animal science researchers.

Technical Abstract: Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug which has been a widely used analgesic for pain relief as well as an anti-inflammatory and fever reducer. However, it also has been shown to cause negative effects to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract including lower GI bleeding, peptic ulcers, perforation and can also impact the small intestine. Enhanced liquid aspirin (ELA) contains a combination of a salicylate compound, glycerin, triacetate, and saccharin which is more stable than aspirin alone and may negate or reduce the negative effects associated with aspirin on the GI tract, while still exerting positive effects on inflammatory processes. The objective of this study was to evaluate oral ELA on healthy weaning pigs. 8 pigs per treatment were gavaged daily for 5 d with either saline controls (CON) or 2 mg/kg body weight ELA. After the 5-d dosing period, pigs were weighed and then euthanized for intestinal sample collection. ELA-administered pigs gained significantly more body weight compared to CON pigs (5%; P<0.05). Additionally, there was tendency for an increase of 24% in villus height in ELA pigs compared to CON (P = 0.06) and significant increases in relative protein expression of Claudins (CLDN) 3 and 7 (P<0.05). Finally, several genes were altered in ELA-fed pigs compared to CON including stem cell markers and immune markers. All in all, this data showed that ELA was well tolerated in a pig model and had no observable negative impacts. Additionally, ELA exerted several positive effects on body weight and intestinal function that would warrant follow up studies.