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. 2022 Mar 19:2022:2644205.
doi: 10.1155/2022/2644205. eCollection 2022.

Intrauterine Growth Retardation Affects Intestinal Health of Suckling Piglets via Altering Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity, Glucose Uptake, Tight Junction, and Immune Responses

Xiaopeng Tang  1   2 , Kangning Xiong  1   2
Affiliations

Intrauterine Growth Retardation Affects Intestinal Health of Suckling Piglets via Altering Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity, Glucose Uptake, Tight Junction, and Immune Responses

Xiaopeng Tang et al. Oxid Med Cell Longev. .

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) on the intestinal morphology, intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis, intestinal antioxidant capacity, intestinal glucose absorption capacity, and intestinal barrier function of piglets during the suckling period. A total of eight normal-birth-weight (NBW) piglets and eight IUGR newborn piglets (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) were selected from eight litters, one NBW and one IUGR newborn piglet per litter. In each litter, piglets with birth weight of 1.54 ± 0.04 kg (within one SD of the mean birth weight) were selected as NBW piglets and piglets with birth weight of 0.82 ± 0.03 kg (two SD below the mean birth weight) were selected as IUGR piglets. At 21 days of age, all piglets were killed by exsanguinations for sampling. The results showed the body weight (BW) of IUGR piglets on day 0, day 7, day 14, and day 21, and the body weight gain (BWG) of IUGR piglets was significantly lower than that of NBW piglets. IUGR piglets exhibited impaired intestinal morphology, raised enterocyte apoptosis, and increased oxidative damage. It showed that IUGR leads to a lower antioxidant capacity and glucose absorption in the jejunum. In accordance, IUGR caused the intestinal barrier dysfunction by impairing tight junctions and increasing intestinal inflammatory injury. Collectively, these results add to our understanding that IUGR affects intestinal health of suckling piglets via altering intestinal antioxidant capacity, glucose uptake, tight junction, and immune responses, and the slow growth of piglets with IUGR may be associated with intestinal injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on growth performance of suckling piglets (0 to 21 days). (a) Body weight of piglets at days 0, 7, 14, and 21. (b) Average body weight gain of piglets. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 8. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on the jejunum morphology of suckling piglets: (a) intestinal morphology of the jejunum, (b) villus height of the jejunum, (c) crypt depth of the jejunum, and (d) the ratio of villus height to crypt depth. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 8. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on intestinal damage of suckling piglets. (a) Representative charts of flow cytometry analyses of apoptosis. (b) Apoptosis rate. (c) MDA content in serum. (d) MDA content in the jejunum. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 8. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on serum and intestinal antioxidation capacity of suckling piglets. (a) T-AOC level in serum. (b) GSH-Px level in serum. (c) SOD level in serum. (d) CAT level in serum. (e) T-AOC level in the jejunum. (f) GSH-Px level in the jejunum. (g) SOD level in the jejunum. (h) CAT level in the jejunum. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 8. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on intestinal glucose absorption capacity of suckling piglets. (a) Alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity. (b) Sodium/potassium-transporting adenosine triphosphatase (Na+/K+-ATPase) (n = 8). (c) SGLT1 mRNA relative expression. (d) GLUT2 relative expression. (e) AMPK-α1 relative expression (n = 4). Values are expressed as means ± SEM. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on intestinal tight junction's gene expression of suckling piglets. (a) ZO-1 mRNA relative expression. (b) Claudin relative expression. (c) Occludin relative expression. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 4. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Effects of intrauterine growth retardation on intestinal immune function of suckling piglets: (a) sIgA level, (b) IL-1β level, (c) TNF-α level, and (d) IL-6 level. Values are expressed as means ± SEM, n = 8. NBW: normal-birth-weight piglets; IUGR: intrauterine growth retardation piglets. ∗P < 0.05 compared with the NBW group.
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