Abstract
Simple SummaryHeat stress is a significant threat to the pigs’ production performance as it greatly affects various body systems, particularly those that are responsible for nutrient digestion and absorption. Heat-stress-induced stressors such as oxidative stress threaten the integrity and functionality of the intestine by negatively affecting its morphology and histology through reduction of villus height, crypt depth, villus height to crypt depth ratio, mucosal surface and villi sloughing. Its protective function is also compromised as heat stress negatively influences the expression of tight junction proteins and disrupts the tight junction barrier function, leading to endotoxemia. These adverse effects of heat stress can be highly mitigated by supplementing dietary antioxidants, as these substances positively influence the intestinal integrity and function of pigs through the improvement of intestinal morphology and histology. Reduction of blood endotoxin through improved tight junction barrier function and depletion of oxidative stress with enhanced mucosal antioxidant capacity is also evident upon such supplementation.Heat stress (HS) significantly affects the performance of pigs by its induced stressors such as inflammation, hypoxia and oxidative stress (OS), which mightily strain the intestinal integrity and function of pigs. As heat stress progresses, several mechanisms in the intestinal epithelium involved in the absorption of nutrients and its protective functions are altered. Changes in these mechanisms are mainly driven by cellular oxidative stress, which promotes disruption of intestinal homeostasis, leading to intestinal permeability, emphasizing intestinal histology and morphology with little possibility of recovering even after exposure to HS. Identification and understanding of these altered mechanisms are crucial for providing appropriate intervention strategies. Therefore, it is this papers’ objective to review the important components for intestinal integrity that are negatively affected by HS and its induced stressors. With due consideration to the amelioration of such effects through nutritional intervention, this work will also look into the capability of dietary antioxidants in mitigating such adverse effects and maintaining the intestine’s integrity and function upon the pigs’ exposure to high environmental temperature.
Highlights
Introduction distributed under the terms andAnimal welfare and productivity are compromised when livestock animals are exposed to an ambient temperature above their thermoneutral zone [1]
As heat stress (HS) induces cellular oxidative stress (OS) in the intestine [5], this review aims to look into the details on how HS and its stressors promote intestinal permeability and the ability of antioxidants to mitigate such adverse effects
Based on the information from various researches, as HS progresses, duodenal, jejunal and ileal villus height, crypt depth and villus height to crypt depth ratio are reduced by about 11%, 3% and 9%, respectively
Summary
A healthy gut is important in aiding efficient digestion and absorption of the dietary nutrients ingested by an animal [19]. The pigs’ IE renews every two to three days, compelled by the intestinal stem cells (ISCs) [35] This ensures that only the fittest and metabolically able cells comprise the IE and maintain an impermeable barrier to gut microbiota and luminal contents as well as for nutrient digestion, absorption and secretion of antimicrobial peptides [36]. Another positive influence of ISCs is the generation of Animals 2021, 11, 1135 highly proliferative transit-amplifying cells. Stability of ISC’s self-renewal and differentiation controls the intestinal epithelial homeostasis and is essential for ensuring intestinal epithelial integrity [35]
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