Effect of low dosage of chito-oligosaccharide supplementation on intestinal morphology, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and barrier function in weaned piglets

This study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary supplementation of a low dose of chito-oligosaccharide (COS) on intestinal morphology, immune response, antioxidant capacity, and barrier function in weaned piglets. A total of 120 weaned pigs (21 d of age; 7.86 +/- 0.22 kg average BW) were randomly assigned (6 pens/diet; 10 pigs/pen) to 2 dietary treatments consisting of a basal diet (negative control) or the basal diet supplemented with COS (30 mg/kg) for a 14-d period. Six randomly selected piglets from each treatment were killed for blood and tissue sampling. No significant differences were observed in ADG, ADFI, and G:F between treatment and the control group. Piglets fed the COS-supplemented diet had greater (P < 0.05) stomach pH than those fed the control diet on d 14 postweaning. Dietary supplementation with COS reduced villus height (P < 0.05) and villus height: crypt depth (P < 0.05) in the ileum. Dietary COS supplementation tended to reduce villus height in the duodenum (P = 0.065) and jejunum (P = 0.058). There was no effect on crypt depth in the intestinal segments of treatment group. Piglets fed the COS-supplemented diet increased (P < 0.05) the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes in duodenum or jejunum and goblet cells of ileum. However, COS decreased (P < 0.05) the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes in ileum of weaned piglets. The concentrations of IL-10 (duodenum, jejunum, and ileum) and secretory immunoglobulin (SIgA; duodenum and ileum) were higher in piglets fed the COS-supplemented diet compared with control (P < 0.05). Dietary COS supplementation reduced (P < 0.05) the concentration of total antioxidant capacity and superoxide dismutase of the jejunum or ileum. The mRNA expression of occludin in the ileum and ZO-1 in jejunum and ileum had a significant change in piglets fed the COS-supplemented diet compared with the control group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, these results indicated that dietary COS supplementation at 30 mg/kg had no effects on promoting growth performance and tended to reduce villus height in the duodenum or jejunum of weaned piglets. The results further showed that supplemental COS at this level may cause an immune and oxidative stress response in small intestine and have compromised the intestinal barrier integrity in weaned piglets. The research will provide guidance on the low dosage of COS supplementation on weaning pigs.