Abstract
BackgroundThe present study was conducted to investigate the effects of gastric infusion of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) on gut barrier function in a pig model. In this study, 21 DLY barrows with an average initial body weight of (8.31 ± 0.72) kg were randomly allotted into three treatments: (1) control, (2) infusing low SCFA, S1, (3) infusing high SCFA, S2. The experimental period lasted for 7 days.ResultsGastric infusion of SCFA increased the concentrations of SCFA in serum and digesta, and enhanced the mRNA and protein abundances of SCFA receptors in pig intestine (P < 0.05). Moreover, gastric infusion of SCFA led to alteration of intestinal morphology, elevation of intestinal development-related gene abundances, and decrease of apoptotic cell percentage, as well as reduction of pro-apoptosis gene and protein abundances (P < 0.05). Besides, the jejunal SLC7A1 and ileal DMT1 mRNA abundances in the SCFA infusion groups were higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). Additionally, gastric infusion of SCFA increased the mRNA abundances of Occludin and Claudin-1 in the duodenum and ileum, enhanced Lactobacillus spp counts in the ileal digesta, decreased the mRNA and protein abundances of IL-1β in the colon, and reduced Escherichia coli count in the ileal digesta (P < 0.05).ConclusionsThese data indicated that gastric infusion of SCFA, especially high SCFA concentration, may be beneficial to gut development of piglets via improving gut morphology, decreasing apoptotic cell percentage, and maintaining intestinal barrier function.
Highlights
Hindgut fermentation is a phenomenon which is ubiquitous to all mammals [1]
Short-chain fatty acids and their receptors As shown in Table 1, gastric infusion of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) increased the concentration of butyric acid in the serum, and the concentrations of acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, and total SCFA in the ileal, cecal, and colonic digesta (P < 0.05)
Based on the above considerations, our study was used to investigate whether gastric infusion of different concentrations of SCFA could attenuate the negative effects of weaning in the perspective of actual production
Summary
Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA, such as acetate, propionate, and butyrate), the metabolites of gut microbiota fermentation, have vital physiological functions. Studies in rats revealed that ileal or colonic infusion of butyrate or a combination of SCFA mixture increased intestinal crypt cell production rate and enhanced the mucosal weight and the concentrations of mucosal DNA, RNA, and protein [7, 8]. The in vitro studies found inconsistent results, which revealed the inhibitory effect on epithelial proliferation and cell viability under the treatment of SCFA [7, 10]. The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of gastric infusion of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) on gut barrier function in a pig model.
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