Weaning and the Weanling Diet Influence the Villous Height and Crypt Depth in the Small Intestine of Pigs and Alter the Concentrations of Short-Chain Fatty Acids in the Large Intestine and Blood

Manuscript received 7 August 1997. Initial reviews completed 29 August 1997. Revision accepted 9 February 1998.

Department of Large Animal Medicine and Nutrition, Utrecht University, 3508 TD Utrecht, the Netherlands and ^* Institute for Animal Science and Health, 8219 PH Lelystad, the Netherlands

Effects of weaning pigs to different diets have been investigated in terms of the changes in the small intestinal morphology, and in the absorption of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) and sodium from the large intestine. One piglet from each of six litters containing nine pigs was sampled on the day of weaning; the other eight piglets were divided into four equal groups and fed different diets as follows: unweaned, weanling diet, or sow's milk at high or low level. Four and seven days after weaning, measurements of the intestinal tissue and contents were made; the plasma concentrations of SCFA, aldosterone and sodium were also measured. The villous height in the small intestine was highest in the unweaned group and greater in the high milk group than in either the weanling diet or low milk group (P < 0.001). Apparently, villous atrophy was due more to the level of feed intake than to the composition of the diet. The concentrations of SCFA in the large intestine and portal blood were highest in the weanling diet group and lowest in the low milk group. The low milk group tended to have higher blood concentrations of aldosterone (P = 0.15), which may have compensated for the low concentrations of SCFA in maintaining a higher percentage of dry matter in the intestine. Pigs fed weanling diet may use the energy from the SCFA to maintain a body weight comparable to that of pigs fed milk at a low level.

The Journal of Nutrition Vol. 128 No. 6 June 1998, pp. 947-953
Copyright ©1998 by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences

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