Maternal dietary uridine supplementation reduces diarrhea incidence in piglets by regulating the intestinal mucosal barrier and cytokine profiles

• Published in: Journal of the science of food and agriculture Vol. 100; no. 9; pp. 3709 - 3718
• Main Authors: Wu, Xin, Gao, Lu‐Min, Liu, Yi‐Lin, Xie, Chunyan, Cai, Lichuang, Xu, Kang, Zhou, Xi‐Hong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.07.2020; John Wiley and Sons, Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Cytokines; Cytokines - genetics; Cytokines - metabolism; Diarrhea; Diarrhea - metabolism; Diarrhea - physiopathology; Diarrhea - prevention & control; Diarrhea - veterinary; Diet; Dietary supplements; Dietary Supplements - analysis; Duodenum; energy; Female; Gene expression; Homeostasis; Ileum; Ileum - metabolism; Immune response; interleukin-10; Interleukin-10 - genetics; Interleukin-10 - metabolism; interleukin-1beta; interleukin-6; interleukin-8; intestinal barrier; Intestinal Mucosa - metabolism; Intestine; Jejunum; Jejunum - metabolism; Lactation; Male; Maternal Inheritance; messenger RNA; Mucosa; Neonates; Nucleotides; piglets; Pregnancy; pregnant sows; quantitative polymerase chain reaction; repletion; reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction; secretion; Small intestine; sows; suckling; Suckling behavior; suckling piglets; Swine; Swine Diseases - genetics; Swine Diseases - metabolism; Swine Diseases - physiopathology; Swine Diseases - prevention & control; TLR4 protein; Toll-like receptor 4; Toll-like receptors; Uridine; Uridine - metabolism; villi; Villus; Weaning; uridine; suckling piglets; cytokines; pregnant sows; intestinal barrier
• ISSN: 0022-5142; 1097-0010; 1097-0010
• DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.10410

BACKGROUND Nucleotides play an important role in the regulation of cellular energy and protein homeostasis, which facilitate the repair, recovery and repletion of tissue function. This study tested the effects of maternal uridine (UR) supplementation during late pregnancy and lactation of sows on the immune function of the small intestine in neonatal and suckling piglets. RESULTS Results showed that compared to the control group, maternal dietary UR supplementation significantly decreased incidence of diarrhea in suckling piglets (P < 0.01); and increased both duodenal and ileal average villus height (P < 0.01) as well as villus height/crypt depth in ileum (P = 0.017) in neonatal piglets. RT‐qPCR results showed that maternal UR supplementation decreased mRNA expression of claudin‐1 in jejunum and ileum of neonatal piglets (P < 0.05), while significantly increased mRNA expression of claudin‐1 in duodenum and jejunum of suckling piglets. Furthermore, in suckling piglets, maternal dietary UR supplementation increased mRNA expression of IL‐6, IL‐8 and IL‐1β in duodenum, jejunum and ileum (P < 0.05), increased IL‐10 expression in both jejunal and ileal mucosa (P < 0.05) and increased mRNA expression of IKB and TLR4 in ileal mucosa (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that maternal dietary supplementation with UR contributed to reducing incidence of diarrhea by regulating cytokine secretion and intestinal mucosal barrier function in suckling piglets. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry