The effect of change of the diet and feeding regimen at weaning on duodenal myoelectrical activity in piglets

Dietary Supplementation with Enterococcus faecium R1 Attenuates Intestinal and Liver Injury in Piglets Challenged by Lipopolysaccharide

Simple Summary

The biological characteristics of E. faecium R1 and the effect of dietary supplementation with E. faecium R1 on the growth performance of weaned piglets were studied. The results showed that E. faecium R1 had the characteristics of effective bacteriostatic activity, acid resistance, bile salt resistance, and high-temperature resistance. Dietary supplementation with E. faecium R1 (6.5 × 10⁶ CFU/g) improved intestinal function of weaning piglets by decreasing diarrhea incidence. Further research found that dietary supplementation with E. faecium R1 (6.5 × 10⁶ CFU/g) attenuated intestinal and liver injury in piglets challenged by lipopolysaccharide.

Abstract

In this study, a strain of E. faecium R1 with effective bacteriostatic activity, acid resistance, bile salt resistance, high-temperature resistance was screened. To study the effect of E. faecium R1 on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced intestinal and liver injury in piglets, twenty-four weaned female piglets were randomly assigned into one of three groups (8 piglets per group). Piglets in the control group and LPS group were fed a basal diet, piglets in the E. faecium group were fed the basal diet supplemented with E. faecium R1 (6.5 × 10⁶ CFU/g). On day 21 of the trial, piglets in the LPS group and E. faecium group were intraperitoneally administered LPS (100 μg/kg), piglets in the control group were administered the same volume of saline. Subsequently, blood samples were collected at 3 h, and intestinal, liver, and pancreas samples were collected at 6 h. Results showed that E. faecium R1 supplementation significantly decreased the diarrhea rate and feed to gain ratio, and dramatically reduced LPS-induced intestinal and liver injury in piglets. Compared with the LPS group, E. faecium R1 supplementation significantly increased the content of glucagon in plasma and IL-1β in the liver, and the mRNA levels of villin in jejunum and ileum and Bcl-xL and pBD-L in the ileum, and significantly decreased the contents of prostaglandin 2 and malondialdehyde in the liver and the activities of myeloperoxidase and aspartate aminotransferase in plasma in piglets. Moreover, E. faecium R1 improved the pancreatic antioxidant capacity in piglets, which was indicated by a significant increase in catalase activity and a decrease in total nitric oxide synthase activity. In summary, dietary supplementation with E. faecium R1 alleviates intestinal and liver injury in LPS-challenged piglets.

Daily changes in antro-duodenal myoelectric activity in weaned pigs

The stomach and small intestine manifest a myoelectric activity pattern called the migrating myoelectric complex (MMC), which is controlled by both environmental and intrinsic factors. The daily MMC pattern has been little investigated, therefore the purpose of the present study was to study it, in weaned pigs given food twice a day. A wireless telemetric recording system was used for 24-h electromyography of the antrum and duodenum. The activity of the antrum showed little change if any, whereas the myoelectric activity of the duodenum significantly changed with respect to the time of day and feeding in conscious pigs. Namely, there were more frequent and regular MMC cycles occurring in the duodenum at night as compared with that during daytime. This change was due to the shortening of phase II of the MMC cycles that were registered at night. Phase I of the MMC showed transient variability in relation to feeding with no impact on the day/night differences. Phase III of the duodenal MMC cycle as well as the ‘feeding pattern’ did not change along with the time of day and feeding regime. In conclusion, daily variation in the duodenum may provide different conditions for digestive processes in the day and night.

Duodenal application of Li+ in a submaximal therapeutic dose inhibits exocrine pancreatic secretion and modulates gastro-duodenal myoelectrical activity in a conscious pig model

This study tested whether duodenal application of lithium inhibits gastroduodenal motility, and whether it suppresses secretion from the exocrine pancreas. Five suckling pigs, 16–18 days old, were surgically fitted with 3 serosal electrodes on the wall of the gastric antrum and the duodenum for electromyography of smooth muscles, and with a pancreatic duct catheter and a duodenal T-cannula for collection and re-entrant flow of pancreatic juice. After the recovery period, on alternative days, each animal was tested once with an intraduodenal infusion of Li+ (100 mmol·L–1C3H5LiO3,10 mL·kg−1·h−1) for 1 h, and once with an intraduodenal infusion of NaCl (154 mM, 10 ml·kg−1·h−1), also for 1 h, with the first treatment, i.e., Li+ or NaCl, randomly assigned. Individual pigs served as their own controls, with data recorded prior to a treatment being used as the baseline. Li+ increased the duration of quiescence (P < 0.05) and activity phase (P < 0.05) in the antrum, thus increasing (P < 0.05) the duration of antral myoelectrical cycles. Li+ shortened (P < 0.05) phase I, but it did not affect phase II or phase III or the MMC in the duodenum. Li+ inhibited pancreatic juice outflow as well as pancreatic enzyme and bicarbonate output (P < 0.05 for all pancreatic parameters).

Expectorant and antioxidant activities of purified fumarprotocetraric acid from Cladonia verticillaris lichen in mice

The lichen Cladonia verticillaris produces bioactive secondary metabolites, such as fumarprotocetraric (FUM) and protocetraric acids. Species of the genus Cladonia demonstrate anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and antipyretic activities and have been used in folk medicine to treat respiratory diseases (throat irritation, cough, asthma and tuberculosis). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expectorant and mucolytic activities of fumarprotocetraric acid in albino Swiss mice. FUM was extracted and purified from an acetone extract of C. verticillaris. The phenol red quantification method was used on the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid following the administration of FUM (25, 50 or 100 mg/kg orally or intraduodenally and 12.5, 25 or 50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally) for the evaluation of expectorant activity. Control groups received either saline solution (7.5 mL/kg) or ambroxol (1 mg/kg) through the same administration routes. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using the thiobarbituric acid reactive species assay in mouse lung tissue treated with the FUM at 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg orally, followed by a lipopolysaccharide solution at 1 mg/kg intrapleurally. The same protocol was used for the control groups using either saline solution (7.5 mL/kg, orally) or N-acetylcysteine (20 mg/kg, orally).

RESULTS

Orally administered FUM at doses of 25 and 50 mg/kg promoted significantly greater dose-dependent phenol red activity in the bronchoalveolar lavage and expectorant activity in comparison to the controls (p < 0.05). Lipid peroxidation (malondialdehyde equivalent) was reduced by 50% in the lung tissue.

CONCLUSION

The results confirm the expectorant and antioxidant properties of fumarprotocetraric acid produced by the lichen C. verticillaris.

Relationship between dietary-induced changes in intestinal commensal microflora and duodenojejunal myoelectric activity monitored by radiotelemetry in the rat in vivo

Interdigestive intestinal motility, and especially phase III of the migrating myoelectric/motor complex (MMC), is responsible for intestinal clearance and plays an important role in prevention of bacterial overgrowth and translocation in the gut. Yet previous results from gnotobiotic rats have shown that intestinal microflora can themselves affect the characteristics of the myoelectric activity of the gut during the interdigestive state. Given that the composition of the intestinal microflora can be altered by dietary manipulations, we investigated the effect of supplementation of the diet with synbiotics on intestinal microflora structure and the duodenojejunal myoelectric activity in the rat. To reduce animal distress caused by restraint and handling, which can itself affect GI motility, we applied radiotelemetry for duodenojejunal EMG recordings in conscious, freely moving rats. Thirty 16-month-old Spraque-Dawley rats were used. The diet for 15 rats (E group) was supplemented with chicory inulin, Lactobacillus rhamnosus and Bifidobacterium lactis. The remaining 15 rats were fed control diet without supplements (C group). Three rats from each group were implanted with three bipolar electrodes positioned at 2, 14 and 28 cm distal to the pylorus. After recovery, two 6 h recordings of duodenojejunal EMG were carried out on each operated rat. Subsequently, group C rats received feed supplements and group E rats received only control diet for 1 week, and an additional two 6 h recordings were carried out on each of these rats. Non-operated C and E rats were killed and samples of GI tract were collected for microbiological analyses. Supplementation of the diet with the pro- and prebiotics mixture increased the number of bifidobacteria, whereas it decreased the number of enterobacteria in jejunum, ileum, caecum and colon. In both caecum and colon, the dietary supplementation increased the number of total anaerobes and lactobacilli. Treatment with synbiotics increased occurrence of phase III of the MMC at all three levels of the small intestine. The propagation velocity of phase III in the whole recording segment was also increased from 3.7 +/- 0.2 to 4.4 +/- 0.2 cm min(-1) by dietary treatment. Treatment with synbiotics increased the frequency of response potentials of the propagated phase III of the MMC at both levels of the jejunum, but not in the duodenum. In both parts of the jejunum, the supplementation of the diet significantly decreased the duration of phase II of the MMC, while it did not change the duration of phase I and phase III. Using the telemetry technique it was demonstrated that changes in the gastrointestinal microflora exhibited an intestinal motility response and, more importantly, that such changes can be initiated by the addition of synbiotics to the diet.