title: Effects of alanyl-glutamine supplementation on the small intestinal mucosa barrier in weaned piglets.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study was to investigate the effects of alanyl-glutamine (Ala-Gln) and glutamine (Gln) supplementation on the intestinal mucosa barrier in piglets.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 180 barrows with initial weight 10.01±0.03 kg were randomly allocated to three treatments, and each treatment consisted of three pens and twenty pigs per pen. The piglets of three groups were fed with control diet [0.62% alanine (Ala)], Ala-Gln diet (0.5% Ala-Gln), Gln diet (0.34% Gln and 0.21% Ala), respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that in comparison with control diet, dietary Ala-Gln supplementation increased the height of villi in duodenum and jejunum (p<0.05), Gln supplementation increased the villi height of jejunum (p<0.05), Ala-Gln supplementation up-regulated the mRNA expressions of epidermal growth factor receptor and insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor in jejunal mucosa (p<0.05), raised the mRNA expressions of Claudin-1, Occludin, zonula occludens protein-1 (ZO-1) and the protein levels of Occludin, ZO-1 in jejunal mucosa (p<0.05), Ala-Gln supplementation enlarged the number of goblet cells in duodenal and ileal epithelium (p<0.05), Gln increased the number of goblet cells in duodenal epithelium (p<0.05) and Ala-Gln supplementation improved the concentrations of secretory immunoglobulin A and immunoglobulin G in the jejunal mucosa (p<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrated that dietary Ala-Gln supplementation could maintain the integrity of small intestine and promote the functions of intestinal mucosa barriers in piglets.
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Shen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.|Department of Agricultural Science and Technology, Zunyi Normal College, Zunyi 563002, China.
authors.forename: Bolin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Jiaolong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Science and Technology, Key Laboratory of Animal Origin Food Production and Safety Guarantee of Jiangsu Province, Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Meat Production and Processing, Quality and Safety Control, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Guanghong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: Alanyl-glutamine; Glutamine; Mucosa Barrier; Piglet; Small Intestine