Birth Weight and Nutrient Restriction Affect Jejunal Enzyme Activity and Gene Markers for Nutrient Transport and Intestinal Function in Piglets

Abstract

Significant variation in the birth weight of piglets has arisen due to increased sow prolificacy. Intestinal development and function may be affected by birth weight. Low birth weight (LBW) pigs may also have reduced feed intake, leading to further impairment of intestinal development. The objective of this study was to examine the intestinal development pattern of LBW and normal birth weight (NBW) piglets with normal nutrition (NN) or restricted nutrition (RN) in the pre-weaning period. Jejunal intestinal samples were analyzed for target gene expression and enzyme activity at d 28 (weaning) and d 56 (post-weaning). At d 28, excitatory amino acid transporter (EAAC1) and sodium-dependent neutral amino acid transporter (B0AT1) were downregulated in LBW compared to NBW pigs (p 0AT1 and ASCT2 (glutamine transporter) were downregulated in RN compared to NN pigs (p p p p p 0AT1) in LBW compared to NBW pigs (p p < 0.05).

Keywords

• low birth weight
• normal birth weight
• neonatal piglets
• intestinal development
• gene expression
• normal nutrition