title: Main intestinal markers associated with the changes in gut architecture and function in piglets after weaning.
abstract: We analysed the spatio-temporal sequence of events concerning the morphology, physiology and ecology of the gut of piglets during the 2 weeks following weaning, in order to provide a limited number of variables that could be relevant markers of the gut post-weaning changes. An experiment was conducted on sixty piglets fasted for 2 d, then administered a weaning diet with a moderate or a high content of wheat using controlled gastric feeding, and slaughtered at different time-points post-weaning. Sixty-nine variables were analysed by principal component analysis. The results showed that the temporal changes induced in the gut by weaning can be divided into two periods: an acute period happening immediately after weaning, followed after day 5 by a more progressive adaptative and maturational phase. The main factors of this adaptation were the refeeding process and the time, while the diet per se had little influence. The villus length, lactose activity, macromolecule fluxes across the jejunum and the plasma cholecystokinin were proposed as markers of the acute phase. Ths mass of the jejunum, the weight of the pancrease, the content of stomach, the trypsin activity and the theophyl-line-induced secretion in jejunum were related to the re-feeding. Markers proposed to follow the gut maturation were the maltase activity, the glucose absorption and the basal resistance in the ileum, the lactobacilli and enterococci in the colon, and the pH of colonic and caecal contents. These markers might be helpful to design suitable diets to limit posts-weaning gut disorders in pigs.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche Systèmes d'Elevage, Nutrition Animale et Humanine, INRA/Agrocampus Rennes, Saint-Gilles, France. montagne@agroampus-rennes.fr
authors.forename: Lucile
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Montagne
authors.forename: Gaëlle
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Boudry
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Favier
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Le Huërou-Luron
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Lallès
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sève
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000821:Animal Feed; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002766:Cholecystokinin / Q000097:blood; D003106:Colon / Q000382:microbiology; D016983:Enterococcus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007082:Ileum / Q000378:metabolism; D007408:Intestinal Absorption; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism; D007422:Intestines / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development*; D007778:Lactobacillus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D013552:Swine / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism; D014886:Weaning; D000520:alpha-Glucosidases / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D002766:Cholecystokinin; D000520:alpha-Glucosidases; D005947:Glucose