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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Nutrition and Metabolism
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1463707
This article is part of the Research Topic Natural Compounds/Products and Livestock Productivity: Enhancing Antioxidant Levels, Gut Health, Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and Disease Control View all 10 articles

supplementation during late gestation and lactation optimizes placental function in sows and intestinal function in 21-dayold IUGR suckling piglets

Provisionally accepted
Xintao Wang Xintao Wang Tingting Fang Tingting Fang Daiwen Chen Daiwen Chen Junning Pu Junning Pu Gang Tian Gang Tian Jun He Jun He Ping Zheng Ping Zheng Xiangbing Mao Xiangbing Mao Aimin Wu Aimin Wu Bing Yu Bing Yu *
  • Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Resistance and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Maternal dietary supplementation with chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) has been considered as a potential intervention to mitigate the occurrence of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and improve postnatal growth. The present study investigated the effect of COS as a dietary supplement for sows during late gestation and lactation on their productivity, placental function, and the intestinal health of IUGR piglets. From day (d) 85 of late gestation to d 21 of lactation, thirty sows were randomly divided into either a control group (basal diet) or a COS group (basal diet+100 mg kg -1 COS). At d 21 of lactation, eight normal and eight IUGR littermates from eight litters belong to control sows, as well as eight IUGR littermates from COS sows, were selected for further analysis. The results showed a significant reduction in the number of stillbirths and mummies in COS groups (P<0.05). Maternal dietary supplementation with COS also significantly up-regulated the expression levels of GLUT1, GLUT3 and VEGFA mRNA in the placenta of IUGR piglets compared to those in control group (P<0.05).Furthermore, there was a significant decrease in MDA content and a significant increase in GSH content in the placenta of IUGR piglets from COS sows compared to those from control group (P<0.05). Additionally, the expression levels of MUC2 and Occludin mRNA as well as Claudin1 protein significantly up-regulated in the jejunum of 21-day-old IUGR piglets from COS sows group compared to those from control group (P<0.05). Moreover, IL-10 mRNA expression level was significantly increased while MDA content was significantly reduced in the jejunum of 21-day-old IUGR piglets from COS sows group compared to those from control group (P<0.05). The results indicated that maternal dietary COS supplementation during late gestation effectively reduced the incidence of stillbirths and mummies, potentially linked to enhanced placental function, reduced oxidative stress, and improved immune status. Furthermore, maternal dietary COS supplementation exhibited positive impact on intestinal digestive and absorptive function, intestinal barrier integrity, intestinal antioxidant capacity and immune status in 21-day-old suckling IUGR piglets.

    Keywords: ：Chitosan oligosaccharide, Intrauterine growth retardation, Sows, piglets, Placenta, intestine

    Received: 12 Jul 2024; Accepted: 31 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang, Fang, Chen, Pu, Tian, He, Zheng, Mao, Wu and Yu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Bing Yu, Key Laboratory of Animal Disease Resistance and Nutrition, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu, China

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