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 < 0.05). On d 56, B0AT1 and ASCT2 (glutamine transporter) were downregulated in RN compared to NN pigs (p < 0.05), regardless of birth weight. Peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) expression was downregulated in LBW compared to NBW pigs at 28 d (p < 0.05), with no effects of treatments at 56 d. Sodium-glucose transporter-1 (SGLT1) was upregulated in NBW-NN compared to LBW-NN pigs (p < 0.05) at 28 d. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) was upregulated in LBW-RN at d 28. At d 56, claudin-3 (CLDN-3) and Zonular occludin-1 (ZO-1) were upregulated in NN compared to RN pigs (p < 0.05). There were no treatment effects on ALP, maltase, or sucrase activity at 28 d. However, at 56 d, ALP was upregulated in NBW-NN pigs while sucrase activity was upregulated in NN pigs (p < 0.05). The results demonstrate differences in jejunal gene expression associated with birth weight, with reduced gene expression of amino acid transporters (PepT1, EAAC1, B0AT1) in LBW compared to NBW pigs (p < 0.05). While neonatal nutrient restriction had minimal effects at 28 d and d 56 for tight junction protein transcript abundance, neutral amino acid transporter abundance was upregulated in NN pigs compared to RN piglets (p < 0.05).