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Dietary supplementation with l-arginine or N-carbamylglutamate enhances intestinal growth and heat shock protein-70 expression in weanling pigs fed a corn- and soybean meal-based diet

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Abstract

This study determined effects of dietary supplementation with l-arginine (Arg) or N-carbamylglutamate (NCG) on intestinal health and growth in early-weaned pigs. Eighty-four Landrace × Yorkshire pigs (average body weight of 5.56 ± 0.07 kg; weaned at 21 days of age) were fed for 7 days one of the three isonitrogenous diets: (1) a corn- and soybean meal-based diet (CSM), (2) CSM + 0.08% NCG (0.08%), and (3) CSM + 0.6% Arg. There were four pens of pigs per diet (7 pigs/pen). At the end of a 7-day feeding period, six piglets were randomly selected from each treatment for tissue collections. Compared with the control group, Arg or NCG supplementation increased (P < 0.05): (1) Arg concentrations in plasma, (2) small-intestinal growth, (3) villus height in duodenum, jejunum and ileum, (4) crypt depth in jejunum and ileum, (5) goblet cell counts in intestinal mucosae, and (6) whole-body weight gain in pigs. Real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting analyses revealed that both mRNA and protein levels for heat shock protein-70 (HSP70) were higher (P < 0.05) in the intestinal mucosae of Arg- or NCG-supplemented pigs than in the control group. Furthermore, the incidence of diarrhea in the NCG group was 18% lower (P < 0.01) than that in the control group. Collectively, these results indicate that dietary supplementation with 0.6% Arg or 0.08% NCG enhances intestinal HSP70 gene expression, intestinal growth and integrity, and the availability of dietary nutrients for whole-body weight gain in postweaning pigs fed a CSM-based diet. Thus, Arg or NCG is a functional ingredient in the weaning diet to improve nutrition, health, and growth performance of these neonates.

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Abbreviations

Arg:

l-Arginine

CSM:

Corn- and soybean meal-based diet

GAPDH:

Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase

HSP70:

Heat shock protein 70

IEL:

Intraepithelial leukocytes

NAG:

N-Acetylglutamate

NCG:

N-carbamylglutamate

NO:

Nitric oxide

RT-PCR:

Real-time polymerase chain reaction

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Acknowledgments

This research was jointly supported by grants from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Knowledge Innovation Project (Kscx2-Yw-N-051), National 863 Program of China (2008AA10Z316), Research Program of State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Nanchang University (project No. SKLF-TS-200817), Ganjiang Scholars Program at Nanchang University, National Basic Research Program of China (2009CB118806), NSFC (30901040, 30901041, 30928018, 30828025, 30771558), National Fund of Agricultural Science and Technology outcome application (2006GB24910468), National Scientific and Technological Supporting Project (2006BAD12B02-5-2 and 2006BAD12B02-5-2), Hubei Chu Tian Scholars Program, National Research Initiative Competitive Grants from the Animal Growth & Nutrient Utilization Program (2008-35206-18764) of the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and Texas AgriLife Research (H-8200).

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  1. Hunan Engineering and Research Center of Animal and Poultry Science, Key Laboratory for Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan, 410125, China

    Xin Wu, Yunling Gao, Yulong Yin, Xihong Zhou, Meimei Geng & Guoyao Wu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, College of Life Science and Food Engineering, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Zheng Ruan & Yulong Yin

  3. Hubei Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science, Wuhan Polytechnic University, Wuhan, 430023, China

    Yulong Yin, Lei Wang & Yongqing Hou

  4. Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    Guoyao Wu

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  1. Xin Wu
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  2. Zheng Ruan
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Wu, X., Ruan, Z., Gao, Y. et al. Dietary supplementation with l-arginine or N-carbamylglutamate enhances intestinal growth and heat shock protein-70 expression in weanling pigs fed a corn- and soybean meal-based diet. Amino Acids 39, 831–839 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-010-0538-y

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