Benzoic acid

Asian-Australas J Anim Sci. 2015 Jun;28(6):827-39.

Effects of benzoic Acid and thymol on growth performance and gut characteristics of weaned piglets.[Pubmed: 25925060]

A total of 144 weaned crossed pigs were used in a 42-d trial to explore the effects of different concentrations/combinations of Benzoic acid and thymol on growth performance and gut characteristics in weaned pigs.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Pigs were randomly allotted to 4 dietary treatments: i) control (C), basal diet, ii) C+1,000 mg/kg Benzoic acid+100 mg/kg thymol (BT1), iii) C+1,000 mg/kg Benzoic acid+200 mg/kg thymol (BT2) and, iv) C+2,000 mg/kg Benzoic acid+100 mg/kg thymol (BT3). Relative to the control, pigs fed diet BT3 had lower diarrhoea score during the overall period (p<0.10) and improved feed to gain ratio between days 1 to 14 (p<0.05), which was accompanied by improved apparent total tract digestibility of ether extract, Ca and crude ash (p<0.05), and larger lipase, lactase and sucrose activities in the jejunum (p<0.05) at d 14 and d 42. Similarly, relative to the control, pigs fed diet BT3 had higher counts for Lactobacillus spp in digesta of ileum at d 14 (p<0.05), and pigs fed diets BT1, BT2, or BT3 also had higher counts of Bacillus spp in digesta of caecum at d 14 (p<0.05), and lower concentration of ammonia nitrogen in digesta of caecum at d 14 and d 42 (p<0.05). Finally, pigs fed diet BT3 had higher concentration of butyric acid in digesta of caecum at d 42 (p<0.05), and a larger villus height:crypt depth ratio in jejunum and ileum at d 14 (p<0.05) than pigs fed the control diet.
CONCLUSIONS:
In conclusion, piglets fed diet supplementation with different concentrations/combinations of Benzoic acid and thymol could improve feed efficiency and diarrhoea, and improve gut microfloral composition. The combination of 2,000 mg/kg Benzoic acid+100 mg/kg thymol produced better effects than other treatments in most measurements.

Pestic Biochem Physiol. 2014 May;111:38-42.

Steric hindrance of 2,6-disubstituted benzoic acid derivatives on the uptake via monocarboxylic acid transporters from the apical membranes of Caco-2 cells.[Pubmed: 24861932]

Benzoic acid is a typical substrate for monocarboxylic acid transporters (MCTs), and easily taken up from the apical membranes of Caco-2 cells by MCTs. However, some Benzoic acid derivatives were sparingly taken up by Caco-2 cells. To elucidate the mechanism of lower uptake of the derivatives, we investigated the effect of substitution of benzene ring on the uptake by MCTs using Caco-2 cells.
METHODS AND RESULTS:
Among the Benzoic acid derivatives tested, the uptake of 2,6-disubstituted Benzoic acids was markedly lower than that of other Benzoic acids. Co-incubation of the 2,6-disubstituted derivatives with Benzoic acid did not decrease the uptake of Benzoic acid, while co-incubation with other derivatives significantly decreased the uptake of Benzoic acid. Kinetic analyses elucidated that the uptake of 2,6-dichloroBenzoic acid and 2,3,6-trichloroBenzoic acid did not involve the carrier-mediated process.
CONCLUSIONS:
The 2,6-disubstitution of Benzoic acid may prevent the access of carboxylic acid group to MCTs expressed on the apical membranes of Caco-2 cells.