0
Dietary fiber (DF) regulates immune response and barrier function by interacting with epithelial cells and immune cells. However, the differences in the regulation of intestinal health of different pig breeds by DF remain obscure.
Methods: A total of 60 healthy pigs (20 pigs/breed) from Taoyuan black, Xiangcun black, and Duroc pigs (body weight = 11.00 ± 1.00 kg) were fed two different levels (low and high) of DF for 28 days to evaluate the differences in the modulation of intestinal immunity and barrier function by DF in different pig breeds. Blood samples were collected and blood hematological parameters were measured.
Results: Taoyuan black and Xiangcun black pigs had higher plasma eosinophils counts and eosinophil ratios, and lymphocyte ratios but lower neutrophils levels compared with the Duroc pigs when fed low DF. The Taoyuan black and Xiangcun black pigs had higher plasma eosinophils counts, mean corpuscular volume, and mean red blood cell hemoglobin levels and eosinophil ratio while lower neutrophils compared with the Duroc pigs when fed high DF. High DF decreased IgA, IgG, IgM, and sIgA concentrations in the ileum of Taoyuan black and Xiangcun black pigs compared with the Duroc pigs, while the plasma IgG and IgM concentrations of Taoyuan black pigs were higher than those of the Duroc pigs. Moreover, compared with the Duroc pigs, high DF decreased the levels of IL-1β, IL-17, and TGF-β in the plasma, and IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17, IFN-γ, TGF-β, and TNF-α in the ileum of Taoyuan black and Xiangcun black pigs. However, high DF did not affect the mRNA expression of cytokines in the ileum of Taoyuan black, Xiangcun black, and Duroc pigs, while high DF increased the TRAF6 expression of Taoyuan black pigs compared with the Duroc pigs. In addition, high DF increased the Claudin abundance of Taoyuan black and Duroc pigs compared with the pigs feeding with low DF. Moreover, in the low DF and high DF groups, the Xiangcun black pigs had higher protein abundances of Claudin and ZO-1 compared with the Taoyuan black and Duroc pigs.
Conclusion: DF regulated the Taoyuan black and Duroc pigs’ plasma immune cells, the Xiangcun black pigs showed enhanced barrier function, and the Duroc pigs had increased ileal inflammation, which indicates that Duroc pigs are less DF tolerant than the Taoyuan black and Xiangcun black pigs.
Ding S, Cheng Y, Azad MAK, Dong H, He J, Huang P, Kong X. Dietary fiber alters immunity and intestinal barrier function of different breeds of growing pigs. Frontiers in Immunology. 2023; 14: 1104837. https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2023.1104837