Table 4 Effects of dietary supplementations of 100 ppm of ZnO without (BASAL) or with 120 ppm of apramycin (ANTIBIO), 2,500 ppm of ZnO (HIGH), and 100 ppm of the lipid-encapsulated ZnO (LE) on histological measurements of the intestine in weanling pigs challenged with 5 × 10 ⁸  cfu of ETEC K88

Duodenum

Villus

143^b

145^b

230^a

211^a

13.2

<0.01

Crypt

215^b

221^b

377^a

356^a

24.3

<0.01

Jejunum

Villus

102^d

134^c

164^b

192^a

9.1

<0.01

Crypt

241^c

260^c

305^b

349^a

11.1

<0.01

Ileum

Villus

187

196

192

183

18.7

0.97

Crypt

409

403

439

428

15.0

0.32

Colon

Mucosa

475^b

515^b

624^a

675^a

32.8

<0.01

Duodenum

VH¹, μm

367

386

424

435

19

0.07

CD², μm

254

252

262

256

11

0.93

VH:CD

1.45

1.53

1.62

1.72

0.08

0.10

Jejunum

VH, μm

331

340

305

336

17

0.52

CD, μm

257^a

255^a

200^b

205^b

17

0.04

VH:CD

1.31

1.41

1.52

1.64

0.10

0.12

Ileum

VH, μm

297

300

295

305

9

0.89

CD, μm

250

239

229

224

7

0.06

VH:CD

1.19^a

1.26^a

1.29^ab

1.36^b

0.03

0.02