Dietary XXXX supplementation enhances intestinal development and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in weanling piglets.

@entity1 @entity1707 @entity8561 @entity2829 @entity1133 @entity17980 @entity701 @entity3655 @entity369
Oral administration of @entity8561 has been reported to prevent gut disease in @entity1 @entity1 . However, little is known about the effects of dietary @entity369 supplementation on intestinal development of weaned piglets. In the present study, twenty 21-d-old castrated piglets with 5  3 (SEM 0  13) kg body weight (BW) were weaned from sows, individually housed and randomly assigned to one of the two @entity2829 - and soyabean meal-based diets supplemented with 0 or 1% @entity8561 . After consuming the diets for 7 d, six @entity1707 were randomly selected from each group to obtain various tissues. Compared with control @entity1707 , dietary supplementation with 1% @entity8561 did not affect feed intake but enhanced (P<0  05) the relative weight of the small intestine (+33 %), daily BW gain (+38 %) and feed efficiency (+28 %). The villus height of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum in @entity369 -supplemented piglets was 21, 28 and 25% greater (P<0  05) than in the nonsupplemented control group. @entity369 supplementation increased (P<0  05) protein levels for vascular endothelial growth factor( @entity17980 ) in duodenal, jejunal and ileal mucosae by 14, 39 and 35 %, respectively. Compared with the control group, dietary supplementation with 1% @entity8561 increased (P<0  05) plasma concentrations of @entity369 and insulin (+36 %), and decreased (P<0  05) plasma concentrations of @entity701 (233 %), @entity3655 (221 %) and @entity1133 (219 %). These results indicate that @entity369 supplementation enhances intestinal growth, development and expression of @entity17980 in early-weaned @entity1707 fed a @entity2829 - and soyabean meal-based diet. The findings may have important implications for neonatal @entity1707 under stressful or diseased conditions.
