Enzyme for wine could be antibiotic alternative for pigs.

Studies by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have found that a naturally occurring antimicrobial enzyme currently being used in food and beverage applications may also prove useful as an antibiotic alternative for improved feed efficiency and growth in pigs. In a recently published trial they compared the growth rates and weight gains of two groups of 600 piglets placed on one of 3 diet regimens:1)corn/soybean meal and specialty protein. 2)corn/soybean meal and specialty protein with lysozyme added, 3)same diet but containing the antibiotics chlortetracycline and tiamulin hydrogen fumarate rather than the lysozyme. The various pig groups were also kept in weaning pens that had either been disinfected or left uncleaned since the last group of animals had occupied them. The latter was done to stimulate chronic, or long-term, immune activity, including the production of cytokines, which divert nutrients away from growth in swine and result in slower weight gain. The results showed that piglets on lysozyme- or antibiotics-treated feeds grew approximately 12% faster than untreated pigs—even in uncleaned pens, suggesting that the treatments successfully ameliorated the effects of indirect immune challenge in the animals. source;Agricultural research service.