三丁酸甘油酯——營養調控新技術

畜禽養殖有正資產和負資產之分。動物活著就是正資產，有盈利的機會；動物死了就是負資產，直接虧損。例如每死1頭豬，虧掉的成本差不多三千元左右，而成功養活1頭豬至上市才賺 800-1000 元，相當于每死1頭豬，就要連帶導致2-3頭豬賺錢才能平虧損，所以提高存活率與健仔數成為養殖戶迫切需求。Livestock farming has positive assets and negative ones at the same time. When animals survive, it is positive assets, and there are opportunities for profits; when animals die, it is negative ones - a direct loss. For example, 3,000 RMB will be cost for each pig’s death, while 800-1000 RMB will be earned only for raising one pig into market successfully, that is to say, it costs profits of 2-3 survived pigs to even the loss of a dead one. It becomes farmers’ urgent demand to improve piglet’s survival rate and the number of healthy ones.

仔豬從發病到死亡是由各種綜合因素導致，換個角度，以結果為導向，從發病到死亡的過程中一定是多器官或關鍵器官衰竭，根本原因是血氧供給不足，導致驅動生命的能量物質 ATP 產量不足。因此，提高血氧飽和度，促進氧氣的有效供給和利用是保命的核心。比如人生病或各種原因威脅到生命時，急救措施的第一件事就是用體外生命支持系統，也就是戴氧氣罩，提高血氧飽和度。

The exacerbating process of piglet’s death from onset, is caused by comprehensive factors, if we see this process from a result-oriented perspective, we’ll realize it involves a multi-organ or a critical organ failure. An insufficient supply of blood oxygen, which leads to an insufficient ATP production, the energy substance that drives life, is the root of the failure. Therefore, improving blood oxygen saturation, effective supply and utilization of oxygen are the core of life preservation. For instance, when a person is sick or facing a life threatening, first step of emergency treatment is to use external life support system, which requires wearing an oxygen mask, to increase blood oxygen saturation.

丁酸根作為信號分子，能夠啟動 γ-血紅蛋白的合成。上世紀 70 年代，妊娠期糖尿病孕婦的胎兒，出生 18 周以內還有 γ-血紅蛋白，這本來是會沉默掉的基因，通過丁酸根激活后，該基因能廣泛地在人、家禽、豬、羊和牛、非人類的靈長類動物中表達。美國和德國的科學家們歷時數十年，篩選了 50 多種能產生丁酸根的前體物，在 2000 年時才確定三丁酸甘油酯的效果最佳，也最安全。Butyrate, as a signal molecule, can initiate the synthesis of γ-hemoglobin. In the 1970s, the fetuses of the pregnant women who carried gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM)still had the γ-hemoglobin with her, a gene is supposed to be silenced within 18 weeks after birth. This gene was expressed widely in human, poultry, pig, sheep, cattle and non-human primate after being activated by butyrate . Scientists from America and Germany had been screening more than 50 precursors of butyrate for decades, not until the year 2000 did they determine, that Tributyrin behaved the best and the safest.

三丁酸甘油酯中丁酸根能促進 γ-血紅蛋白表達，提高血液中紅細胞數量，提升動物主動攜帶氧氣的能力。動物死亡不是缺能量而是缺氧，以人為例，缺氧活不過 3min，氧氣是在線粒體氧化營養物質，釋放出驅動生命的 ATP，下游養殖戶直觀的感受就是豬皮紅毛亮。皮紅毛亮的豬一定是健康的，血氣足則精神旺，精神旺則形體健。The butyrate in Tributyrin promotes the expression of γ-hemoglobin, increases the number of red blood cells, and improves animals’ abilities of carrying oxygen actively. The death of an animal isn’t caused by lacking of energy, but oxygen. Let’s take human being for instance, a person will not survive after a 3-minute hypoxia, because oxygen is the mitochondria oxidation of nutrients, that releases ATP to drive life. So the intuitive feeling of downstream farmers’ in this regard is, that healthy pigs are definitely with red skins and bright fur. 

目前外三元母豬的仔豬普遍存活率不高，弱仔豬多，究其根本多是胎盤供血不足，胎盤供血足了，營養就跟的上去，健仔數就會高。At present, the survival rate of a sow’s piglets is still generally low, and the piglets are with a high portion of weak ones at the same time. A lack of blood supply from placenta is the explanation of this phenomenon. If the blood supply from placenta is sufficient, the nutrition will be at a great level, and the number of healthy piglets will look better.

實例 Example

2015 年安佑集團和南京農業大學在安佑集團安徽蕪湖的豬場做的試驗——采用三丁酸甘油酯超早期營養干預，將弱仔變成健仔、強仔。

試驗采用超早期斷奶（7 日齡斷奶），試驗期各處理組用相同的代乳料作為基礎日糧。根據仔豬的體重分為3個組，1組為體重正常的豬（1.54Kg），2組為體重輕的，也就是子宮內生長受限制的弱仔豬（0.95Kg），3組為弱仔豬+代乳料里額外添加三丁酸甘油酯。

Super early weaning (7 days old weaning) was adopted, and the same milk substitute was used as a basic diet in all treatment groups. The piglets were divided into 3 groups in terms of different weights: the 1^st group was of normal weight (1.54kg), the 2^nd one was of light weight (0.95kg) with a growth restriction in utero (0.95kg), and the 3^rd one was of weak ones with additional Tributyrin added in the milk substitute.

試驗從 7 日齡開始至 21 日齡結束，弱仔豬在使用三丁酸甘油酯營養干預后，短短兩周內體重就達到了正常水平，最關鍵是內臟器官、消化道免疫器官指數甚至優于對照組。實現了仔豬從弱仔豬向強仔豬和健仔豬的華麗轉變，大大提高了仔豬的存活率和生長效率。

The experiment started at the 7th day and ended at the 21st day after the piglets’ births. The weight of the weak ones reached the normal level in just two weeks, after the Tributyrin nutritional intervention was implemented. And what’s more important was that the indexes of internal and digestive tract immune organs, were even better than the control group’s. This experiment is a signal of the significant transformation of the weak piglets turning into strong and healthy ones, and it improved the survival rate and growth efficiency。

參考文獻：

DONG L, ZHONG X, HE J T, et a1. Supplementation of tributyrin improves the growth and intestinal digestive and barrier functions in intrauterine growth—restricted piglets[J]. Clinical Nutrition, 2015. DOI:10.1016／j. clnu. 2015.03.002.