title: Enteral leptin administration affects intestinal autophagy in suckling piglets.
abstract: Leptin has been shown to play an integral role in the endocrine regulation of metabolism. Moreover, a substantial amount of this peptide has been found in colostrum and milk. The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of exogenous leptin, administered intragastrically, on the process of autophagy and the changes in cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy in the small intestine mucosa. Three groups (n = 6) of neonatal piglets were used in the study. The pigs were fed either by their sows (sow-reared piglets) or with only milk formula, or with milk formula together with leptin administered via a stomach tube (10 μg/kg BW) every 8 h for 6 d. We have shown that pure milk formula feeding significantly elevates (P < 0.05) autophagy compared with that observed in sow-reared piglets. Compared with the control group, feeding milk formula supplemented with leptin resulted in a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in immunodetection of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3, as well as significantly accelerated epithelial cell renewal (P < 0.05). We demonstrated that autophagy is involved in the remodeling of the small intestine mucosa and that leptin, when administered enterally, may be an important factor for its regulation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, PAS, Instytucka 3, 05-110 Jabłonna, Poland. Electronic address: m.slupecka@ifzz.pan.pl.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Słupecka
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, PAS, Instytucka 3, 05-110 Jabłonna, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Woliński
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gajewska
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department of Medical Biology, Institute of Agricultural Medicine, Lublin, Poland.
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Pierzynowski
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000833:Animals, Suckling; D001343:Autophagy / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004847:Epithelial Cells; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling / Q000662:veterinary; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D020738:Leptin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000378:metabolism; D018613:Microscopy, Confocal / Q000662:veterinary; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013552:Swine / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins
keywords: Autophagy; Intestine; Leptin; Pig