XII - 12th International Symposium - Digestive Physiology of Pigs

Digestive
Physiology
of Pigs
enhancing the barrier properties. In practice, enzymes may
be used to pretreat piglets before weaning to prevent postweaning
problems related to a leaky gut.
Key words: gut permeability, pancreas, enzymes
2046 Stimulating effect of pancreatic-like enzymes
on the development of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT)
in piglets. M. Slupecka 1 , J. Wolinski* 1 , O. Prykhodko 2 , P.
Ochniewicz 1 , D. Gruijc 2 , O. Fedkiv 2 , B. Weström 2 , and S. G.
Pierzynowski 2,3 , 1 The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology
and Nutrition, Jablonna, Poland, 2 Dept of Biology,
Lund University, Lund, Sweden, 3 Dept of Medical Biology,
Institute of Rural Health, Lublin, Poland.
Stimulation of GIT development to better utilize the nutritional
components in milk, especially fat, is an important task for
pig producers, since already from the 8–9th day of piglet life
the energy value of milk is insufficient to obtain an optimal
growth. The study investigated the effect of pancreaticlike
enzymes on the development of the GIT in suckling
8d-old piglets. Two enzyme “cocktails,” porcine pancreatic
enzymes (Creon) or microbial-derived pancreatic-like
enzymes (amylase, protease and lipase), in both a low (n
= 6) and high dose (n = 6), were fed via a stomach tube
twice a day for 7 d and than the piglets were slaughtered
for GIT dissection. Control littermates received milk alone.
Administration of the enzyme cocktails, irrespective of their
origin, increased triglyceride level in blood, but did not
affect on the piglet body weight gain during and directly
after treatment. In addition, enzyme feeding did not affect
the weight (or length) of the GIT organs. However, feeding
the low dose of pancreatic enzymes increased mucosa
thickness (P < 0.001; 35%), villi length (P < 0.001; 40%),
crypt depth (P < 0.001; 35%) and mitotic division of
enterocytes (P < 0.01; 33%) in the distal small intestine.
Crypt bifurcation and mature (non-vacuolated) villous
enterocytes increased in the distal intestinal epithelium after
both enzyme treatments. Although, pancreas weight did not
change, and mitotic division of pancreatic cells increased (P
< 0.05, 34%) in piglets receiving enzymes in low doses. The
study revealed that pancreatic or pancreatic-like enzymes
of microbial origin administrated in the early post-perinatal
period enhance GIT development and may be used to better
prepare the piglets gut for milk utilization and weaning.
Key words: pancreas, enzyme, gut maturation
2047 Development of intestinal carbohydrates sensing,
digestion and absorption mechanisms in piglets.
M. Al-Rammahi 1 , A. Moran 1 , D. Batchelor 1 , P. Sangild 2 , D.
Bravo 3 , S. Shirazi-Beechey 1 , and C. Oguey* 3 , 1 niversity of
Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2 University of Copenhagen,
Frederiksberg, Denmark, 3 Pancosma SA, Geneva,
Switzerland.
Dietary carbohydrates are hydrolyzed by amylase,
disaccharidases, sucrase, lactase and maltase into
glucose, galactose and fructose. Glucose and galactose
are absorbed across the apical membrane of enterocytes
by Na + /glucose cotransporter 1 (SGLT1). The expression of
XII INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON
DIGESTIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF PIGS
112
Session IV
this transporter is regulated by dietary sugars present in the
intestinal lumen. This regulation takes place via the activation
of the intestinal sweet receptor, T1R2/T1R3 present in the
enteroendocrine cells. Fructose is absorbed through the
apical membrane of enterocytes by a passive transporter,
GLUT5. The 3 monosaccharides exit the basolateral
membrane of the enterocytes via Na + -independent
transporter GLUT2. The objective of this work was to
study the development profile of intestinal carbohydrates
sensing, digestive and absorptive mechanisms in piglets.
Intestinal tissues were removed from pre-term (fetal age
105 d, n = 4), full-term (115 d post-conception, n = 4),
suckling (15 d old, n = 4) and weaned (28 d old, n = 8)
piglets humanely euthanized. The presence of SGLT1,
GLUT2, GLUT5 and the intestinal sweet receptor were
measured by immunohistochemistry, quantitative PCR and
functional assays, as relevant. Both before and after birth,
SGLT1 was expressed on enterocytes luminal membrane,
while GLUT2 was present on the enterocytes basolateral
membrane and the sweet receptor in enteroendocrine
cells. The GLUT5 was detected on the luminal membrane
of enterocytes only in weaned animals. Levels of SGLT1
mRNA increased 11-folds between fetal age and full-term
(P < 0.01). The expression level of SGLT1 was weaned =
suckling > term > pre-term. A similar expression pattern
was observed for sucrase and maltase, while lactase
expression was maximal in suckling animals. In conclusion,
the piglet intestine is equipped early in life with majority of
intestinal proteins involved in digestion and absorption of
carbohydrates. Diet induces the expression and function of
many of these proteins. This knowledge provides a platform
for rationally designing feed and additives to ensure health
and well-being of young pigs.
Key words: carbohydrate sensing, digestion, absorption
2048 Growth performance of early-weaned pigs is
enhanced by feeding epidermal growth factor-expressing
Lactococcus lactis fermentation product. A. Bedford,*
E. Huynh, M. Fu, J. Zhu, D. Wey, C. F. M. De Lange,
and J. Li, Department of Animal and Poultry Science, University
of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
In early-weaned pigs digestive capacity limits expression
of growth potentials, increasing the need for feeding highquality
animal proteins and antibiotics. Previously we have
shown that feeding early-weaned pigs Lactococcus lactis
engineered to express epidermal growth factor (EGF-
LL) improves various measures of digestive function. To
address the public concern over the use of genetically
modified organisms, the aim of the current study was to
investigate the effect of feeding the EGF-LL fermentation
product, after separation from the genetically modified
EGF-LL, on growth performance and indicators of digestive
capacity of newly weaned pigs. A total of 124 newly weaned
piglets (19–21 d of age; mean body weight 6.46 kg; 8 or
10 pigs/pen) were fed ad libitum in a 2-phase feeding
program with moderate amounts of animal protein and
without growth promoters. Four pens were assigned to
each of 3 treatments: 1) blank bacterial growth medium
(Control), 2) fermented EGF-LL (Ferm), and 3) supernatant