The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 127 No. 6 June 1997, pp. 1118-1127
Copyright ©1997 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

Protein-Energy Malnutrition Delays Small-Intestinal Recovery in Neonatal Pigs Infected with Rotavirus

Manuscript received 27 September 1996. Initial reviews completed 2 December 1996. Revision accepted 11 February 1997.

Ruurd T. Zijlstra^, , Sharon M. Donovan^{*, **}, Jack Odle^{*, ,} , Howard B. Gelberg, Bryon W. Petschow^, , and H. Rex Gaskins^{*, ,}

^* Division of Nutritional Sciences,  Department of Animal Sciences, ^** Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, and  Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 and   Mead Johnson Research Center, Evansville, IN 47721

Infectious diarrheal diseases and protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) are major causes of child morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the present study, PEM was superimposed on rotavirus infection in neonatal pigs to simulate chronic small intestinal stress in malnourished infants with viral gastroenteritis. Two-day-old cesarean-derived pigs (n = 39) were allotted to three treatment groups: 1) noninfected, full-fed; 2) infected, full-fed; and 3) infected, malnourished. Two days postinfection, severe diarrhea and weight loss (11%) were accompanied by reductions in villus height (60%) and lactase activity (78%) and increased crypt depth (32%) in infected full-fed compared with noninfected pigs (P < 0.05). Malnutrition blunted (P < 0.05) increases in crypt depth elicited by rotavirus. By 9 d postinfection, body weight was 59% less, villus height and lactase activity remained lower (50%), and crypt depth remained greater (62%) in infected full-fed compared with noninfected pigs (P < 0.05). However, diarrhea began to clear in infected full-fed, but not in infected malnourished pigs. Plasma insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) was reduced 68% and crypt depth was reduced 19% in infected-malnourished compared with infected full-fed pigs (P < 0.05). Sixteen days postinfection, full-fed pigs had recovered from rotaviral infection; however, in infected-malnourished pigs, diarrhea and growth stasis persisted, and plasma IGF-I, villus height and alkaline phosphatase activity remained reduced compared with infected full-fed pigs (P < 0.05). Overall, PEM prolonged diarrhea and delayed small-intestinal recovery, indicating that nutritional status during diarrhea is essential for recovery from rotaviral enteritis.

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