Tang Xiaopeng, Xiong Kangning
State Engineering Technology Institute for Karst Desertfication Control, School of Karst Science, Guizhou Normal University, No. 116 North Baoshan Road, Yunyan District, Guiyang 550001, China.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Aug 30;12(17):2245. doi: 10.3390/ani12172245.
EGF plays an important role in the intestinal repair and nutrients transport of animals. However, the effect of EGF on the intestinal health of piglets with IUGR has not been reported. Thus, the present study was performed to investigate the effects of EGF on the intestinal morphology, glucose absorption, antioxidant capacity, and barrier function of piglets with IUGR. A total of 6 NBW piglets and 12 IUGR piglets were randomly divided into three treatments: NC group (NBW piglets fed with basal diet, = 6), IC group (IUGR piglets fed with basal diet, = 6), and IE group (IUGR piglets fed with basal diet supplemented with 2 mg/kg EGF, = 6). Growth performance, serum biochemical profile, jejunum histomorphology, jejunum glucose absorption and antioxidant capacity, and jejunal barrier function were measured. The results showed that EGF supplementation significantly increased the final body weight (FBW), average daily gain (ADG), and average daily feed intake (ADFI) of piglets with IUGR; EGF supplementation significantly increased the total protein (TP), glucose (GLU), and immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels compared with the IUGR piglets in the IC group; EGF administration effectively exhibited an increased jejunum villus height (VH) and the villus-height-to-crypt-depth ratio (V/C) of IUGR piglets compared with the IC group; EGF supplementation significantly increased sodium/potassium-transporting adenosine triphosphatase (Na/K-ATPase) activity, intestinal alkaline phosphatase (AKP) activity, glucose transporter sodium/glucose cotransporter 1 (), glucose transporter 2 (), and AMP-activated protein kinase α1 () mRNA expressions in the jejunum of IUGR piglets compared with the IC group; EGF supplementation exhibited increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) levels, tended to increase glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and catalase (CAT) activities, and tended to decrease the malondialdehyde (MDA) level in the jejunum of IUGR piglets compared with the IC group; EGF supplementation significantly increased , , , and mRNA expressions and improved secreted immunoglobulin A (sIgA) secretion in the jejunum of IUGR piglets compared with the IC group and tended to decrease the interleukin 1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels in the jejunum of IUGR piglets compared with the IC group. Pearson's correlation analysis further showed that EGF can promote intestinal development and nutrient absorption by promoting intestinal barrier function, thus improving the growth performance of IUGR piglets.
表皮生长因子（EGF）在动物肠道修复和营养物质转运中发挥着重要作用。然而，EGF对宫内生长受限（IUGR）仔猪肠道健康的影响尚未见报道。因此，本研究旨在探讨EGF对IUGR仔猪肠道形态、葡萄糖吸收、抗氧化能力和屏障功能的影响。总共6头正常出生体重（NBW）仔猪和12头IUGR仔猪被随机分为三个处理组：NC组（NBW仔猪饲喂基础日粮，n = 6）、IC组（IUGR仔猪饲喂基础日粮，n = 6）和IE组（IUGR仔猪饲喂添加2 mg/kg EGF的基础日粮，n = 6）。测定生长性能、血清生化指标、空肠组织形态学、空肠葡萄糖吸收和抗氧化能力以及空肠屏障功能。结果表明，补充EGF显著提高了IUGR仔猪的末体重（FBW）、平均日增重（ADG）和平均日采食量（ADFI）；与IC组的IUGR仔猪相比，补充EGF显著提高了总蛋白（TP）、葡萄糖（GLU）和免疫球蛋白G（IgG）水平；与IC组相比，给予EGF有效提高了IUGR仔猪空肠绒毛高度（VH）和绒毛高度与隐窝深度比值（V/C）；与IC组相比，补充EGF显著提高了IUGR仔猪空肠中钠/钾转运三磷酸腺苷酶（Na/K-ATPase）活性、肠碱性磷酸酶（AKP）活性、葡萄糖转运蛋白钠/葡萄糖共转运体1（SGLT1）、葡萄糖转运蛋白2（GLUT2）和AMP活化蛋白激酶α1（AMPKα1）mRNA表达；与IC组相比，补充EGF提高了IUGR仔猪空肠中超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性和总抗氧化能力（T-AOC）水平，谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-Px）和过氧化氢酶（CAT）活性有升高趋势，丙二醛（MDA）水平有降低趋势；与IC组相比，补充EGF显著提高了IUGR仔猪空肠中Occludin、Claudin-1、ZO-1和JAM-A mRNA表达，并改善了分泌型免疫球蛋白A（sIgA）分泌，且与IC组相比，IUGR仔猪空肠中白细胞介素1β（IL-1β）、IL-6和肿瘤坏死因子α（TNF-α）水平有降低趋势。Pearson相关性分析进一步表明，EGF可通过促进肠道屏障功能来促进肠道发育和营养物质吸收，从而改善IUGR仔猪的生长性能。
