Effects of Fermented Nano Chinese Herbal Medicines Replacing Antibiotics on Production Performance and Carcass Quality of Growing-Finishing Pigs

[Objectives]To study the effects of fermented nano Chinese herbal medicines replacing antibiotics on the production performance and carcass quality of growing-finishing pigs.[Methods]200 healthy and disease-free Duroc-Landrace-Yorkshire(DLY)growing-finishing pigs with similar birth time(45±2 d)and body weight of about 31.5 kg were randomly divided into group A(fed with non-antibiotic basal diet),group B(fed with antibiotic basal diet),group C(fed with non-antibiotic basal diet+0.1%fermented nano Chinese herbal medicine preparation),group D(fed with non-antibiotic basal diet+0.3%fermented nano Chinese herbal medicine preparation)and group E(fed with non-antibiotic basal diet+0.5%fermented nano Chinese herbal medicine preparation).The experiment lasted for 90 d.At the end of the experiment,the production performance and carcass indicators were measured.[Results]Compared with group A,the final weight,average daily gain(ADG)and average daily feed intake(ADFI)of groups B,C,D and E were extremely significantly increased(P<0.01),while the feed-to-gain ratio(F/G)was extremely significantly decreased(P<0.01).Compared with group B,the ADG of group E was significantly increased(P<0.05),while the F/G was significantly decreased(P<0.05).Compared with group A,the slaughter rate and carcass length of pigs in groups B,C,D and E were extremely significantly increased(P<0.01);compared with group B,the slaughter rate of groups D and E was extremely significantly increased(P<0.01).[Conclusions]The fermented nano Chinese herbal medicine preparation has better effects in promoting growth than that of antibiotic additives,and it can significantly improve the carcass quality of growing-finishing pigs.

Adjuvant Effects of Fermented Red Ginseng Extract on Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Chemotherapy

Objective： To investigate the adjuvant therapeutic effects of fermented red ginseng（FRG） extract on non-small cell lung cancer（NSCLC） patients treated with chemotherapy. Methods： A total of 60 patients with advanced NSCLC were assigned to two groups using a random number table, i.e., the gemcitabine plus cisplatin（GP） chemotherapy alone group（26 patients） and the FRG ＋ GP chemotherapy group（34 patients）, for 60-day treatment. Patients were then assessed according to the Fatigue Symptom Inventory, Chinese medicine symptoms score, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale, Self-Rating Depression Scale, Karnofsky Performance Status Scale, and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung. In addition, chemotherapy toxicity and tumor biomarkers were measured. Results： For NSCLC patients after chemotherapy, FRG extract significantly improved the FSI score, CM symptoms score, psychological status, physical conditions, and quality of life and reduced chemotherapy toxicity（P〈0.01）, but the expression levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, cytokeratin-19 fragments, and neuron-specific enolase were not significantly different between the chemotherapy alone and the FRG ＋ chemotherapy groups or between pre-and post-treatments（P〉0.05）. Conclusions： This study demonstrated that FRG extract had an adjuvant effect on advanced NSCLC patients treated with chemotherapy. Further studies with a larger sample size will verify the current findings.