Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum
The permeability of the immature intestine is higher in newborns than in adults; a damaged gut barrier in young animals increases the susceptibility to digestive and infectious diseases later in life. It is therefore of major importance to avoid impairment of the intestinal barrier, specifically in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-11-01
|
| Series: | Veterinary Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/10/11/657 |
| _version_ | 1797457541043585024 |
|---|---|
| author | Lucia Aidos Margherita Pallaoro Giorgio Mirra Valentina Serra Marta Castrica Stella Agradi Giulio Curone Daniele Vigo Federica Riva Claudia Maria Balzaretti Roberta De Bellis Grazia Pastorelli Gabriele Brecchia Silvia Clotilde Modina Alessia Di Giancamillo |
| author_facet | Lucia Aidos Margherita Pallaoro Giorgio Mirra Valentina Serra Marta Castrica Stella Agradi Giulio Curone Daniele Vigo Federica Riva Claudia Maria Balzaretti Roberta De Bellis Grazia Pastorelli Gabriele Brecchia Silvia Clotilde Modina Alessia Di Giancamillo |
| author_sort | Lucia Aidos |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The permeability of the immature intestine is higher in newborns than in adults; a damaged gut barrier in young animals increases the susceptibility to digestive and infectious diseases later in life. It is therefore of major importance to avoid impairment of the intestinal barrier, specifically in a delicate phase of development, such as weaning. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on the intestinal barrier, such as the intestinal morphology and proliferation level and tight junctions expression (zonulin) and enteric nervous system (ENS) inflammation status (through the expression of PGP9.5 and GFAP) in fattening rabbits. Rabbits of 35 days of age were randomly divided into three groups (n = 13) based on the dietary administration: commercial feed (control group, CTR) and commercial feed supplemented with 2.5% and 5% bovine colostrum (BC1 and BC2 groups, respectively). Rabbits receiving the BC1 diet showed a tendency to have better duodenum morphology and higher proliferation rates (<i>p</i> < 0.001) than the control group. An evaluation of the zonulin expression showed that it was higher in the BC2 group, suggesting increased permeability, which was partially confirmed by the expression of GFAP. Our results suggest that adding 2.5% BC into the diet could be a good compromise between intestinal morphology and permeability, since rabbits fed the highest inclusion level of BC showed signs of higher intestinal permeability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:23:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4e2d2cbae0b44e7ab11ad92e9d4e914c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2306-7381 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:23:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Veterinary Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-4e2d2cbae0b44e7ab11ad92e9d4e914c2023-11-24T15:10:29ZengMDPI AGVeterinary Sciences2306-73812023-11-01101165710.3390/vetsci10110657Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine ColostrumLucia Aidos0Margherita Pallaoro1Giorgio Mirra2Valentina Serra3Marta Castrica4Stella Agradi5Giulio Curone6Daniele Vigo7Federica Riva8Claudia Maria Balzaretti9Roberta De Bellis10Grazia Pastorelli11Gabriele Brecchia12Silvia Clotilde Modina13Alessia Di Giancamillo14Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDipartimento di Biomedicina Comparata e Alimentazione—BCA, University of Padua, Viale dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Biomolecular Sciences, University of Urbino “Carlo Bo”, Via A. Saffi 2, 61029 Urbino, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, University of Milan, Via dell’Università 6, 26900 Lodi, ItalyDepartment of Biomedical Sciences for Health, University of Milan, Via Mangiagalli 31, 20133 Milan, ItalyThe permeability of the immature intestine is higher in newborns than in adults; a damaged gut barrier in young animals increases the susceptibility to digestive and infectious diseases later in life. It is therefore of major importance to avoid impairment of the intestinal barrier, specifically in a delicate phase of development, such as weaning. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of bovine colostrum supplementation on the intestinal barrier, such as the intestinal morphology and proliferation level and tight junctions expression (zonulin) and enteric nervous system (ENS) inflammation status (through the expression of PGP9.5 and GFAP) in fattening rabbits. Rabbits of 35 days of age were randomly divided into three groups (n = 13) based on the dietary administration: commercial feed (control group, CTR) and commercial feed supplemented with 2.5% and 5% bovine colostrum (BC1 and BC2 groups, respectively). Rabbits receiving the BC1 diet showed a tendency to have better duodenum morphology and higher proliferation rates (<i>p</i> < 0.001) than the control group. An evaluation of the zonulin expression showed that it was higher in the BC2 group, suggesting increased permeability, which was partially confirmed by the expression of GFAP. Our results suggest that adding 2.5% BC into the diet could be a good compromise between intestinal morphology and permeability, since rabbits fed the highest inclusion level of BC showed signs of higher intestinal permeability.https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/10/11/657intestinal barrierrabbitsintestinal healthzonulinenteric nervous systembovine colostrum |
| spellingShingle | Lucia Aidos Margherita Pallaoro Giorgio Mirra Valentina Serra Marta Castrica Stella Agradi Giulio Curone Daniele Vigo Federica Riva Claudia Maria Balzaretti Roberta De Bellis Grazia Pastorelli Gabriele Brecchia Silvia Clotilde Modina Alessia Di Giancamillo Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum Veterinary Sciences intestinal barrier rabbits intestinal health zonulin enteric nervous system bovine colostrum |
| title | Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum |
| title_full | Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum |
| title_fullStr | Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum |
| title_full_unstemmed | Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum |
| title_short | Intestine Health and Barrier Function in Fattening Rabbits Fed Bovine Colostrum |
| title_sort | intestine health and barrier function in fattening rabbits fed bovine colostrum |
| topic | intestinal barrier rabbits intestinal health zonulin enteric nervous system bovine colostrum |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2306-7381/10/11/657 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT luciaaidos intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT margheritapallaoro intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT giorgiomirra intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT valentinaserra intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT martacastrica intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT stellaagradi intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT giuliocurone intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT danielevigo intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT federicariva intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT claudiamariabalzaretti intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT robertadebellis intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT graziapastorelli intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT gabrielebrecchia intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT silviaclotildemodina intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum AT alessiadigiancamillo intestinehealthandbarrierfunctioninfatteningrabbitsfedbovinecolostrum |