Dietary apple pectic oligosaccharide improves gut barrier function of rotavirus-challenged weaned pigs by increasing antioxidant capacity of enterocytes

// Xiangbing Mao 1, 2 , Xiangjun Xiao 1, 2 , Daiwen Chen 1, 2 , Bing Yu 1, 2 , Jun He 1, 2 , Hao Chen 1, 2 , Xuechun Xiao 1, 2 , Junqiu Luo 1, 2 , Yuheng Luo 1, 2 , Gang Tian 1, 2 and Jianping Wang 1, 2 1 Animal Nutrition Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University, Wenjiang District, Chengdu, 611130, People’s Republic of China 2 Key Laboratory of Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition, Chinese Ministry of Education, Chengdu, 611130, People’s Republic of China Correspondence to: Xiangbing Mao, email: acatmxb2003@163.com Keywords: apple pectic oligosaccharide, gut barrier function, rotavirus, weaned piglets, antioxidant capacity Received: May 18, 2017     Accepted: September 08, 2017     Published: September 28, 2017 ABSTRACT Rotavirus can lead to decreasing gut barrier function and diarrhea of children and young animals. Apple pectic oligosaccharide treatment reduced diarrhea in rotavirus-infected piglets. This study was conducted to explore whether apple pectic oligosaccharide administration could protect gut barrier function of piglets against rotavirus infection. A total of 28 crossbred weaned barrows were allotted into 2 treatments fed the diets supplementing 0 and 200 mg/kg apple pectic oligosaccharide. Half of pigs in each diet treatment were challenged by rotavirus on d 15. The whole duration of this experiment is 18 days. Rotavirus challenge increased average diarrhea index, and impaired microbiota in cecal digesta, and histology, expressions of tight-junction proteins, mucins and glucagon like peptide-2 concentrations, antioxidant capacity, endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy and apoptosis in jejunal mucosa of piglets. However, dietary apple pectic oligosaccharide supplementation relieved effects of rotavirus challenge on diarrhea, gut health, and antioxidant capacity, endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy and apoptosis of jejunal mucosa in piglets. These results suggest that apple pectic oligosaccharide administration can prevent diarrhea and damage of gut barrier function via improving antioxidant capacity that might reduce endoplasmic reticulum stress, autophagy and apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells in rotavirus-infected piglets.