Effect of dietary zinc oxide on morphological characteristics, mucin composition and gene expression in the colon of weaned piglets

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 7;9(3):e91091. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091091. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The trace element zinc is often used in the diet of weaned piglets, as high doses have resulted in positive effects on intestinal health. However, the majority of previous studies evaluated zinc supplementations for a short period only and focused on the small intestine. The hypothesis of the present study was that low, medium and high levels of dietary zinc (57, 164 and 2,425 mg Zn/kg from zinc oxide) would affect colonic morphology and innate host defense mechanisms across 4 weeks post-weaning. Histological examinations were conducted regarding the colonic morphology and neutral, acidic, sialylated and sulphated mucins. The mRNA expression levels of mucin (MUC) 1, 2, 13, 20, toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, 4, interleukin (IL)-1β, 8, 10, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) were also measured. The colonic crypt area increased in an age-depending manner, and the greatest area was found with medium concentration of dietary zinc. With the high concentration of dietary zinc, the number of goblet cells containing mixed neutral-acidic mucins and total mucins increased. Sialomucin containing goblet cells increased age-dependently. The expression of MUC2 increased with age and reached the highest level at 47 days of age. The expression levels of TLR2 and 4 decreased with age. The mRNA expression of TLR4 and the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 were down-regulated with high dietary zinc treatment, while piglets fed with medium dietary zinc had the highest expression. It is concluded that dietary zinc level had a clear impact on colonic morphology, mucin profiles and immunological traits in piglets after weaning. Those changes might support local defense mechanisms and affect colonic physiology and contribute to the reported reduction of post-weaning diarrhea.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Colon / anatomy & histology*
  • Colon / drug effects
  • Colon / metabolism*
  • Cytokines / genetics
  • Cytokines / metabolism
  • Diet*
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / drug effects*
  • Goblet Cells / drug effects
  • Goblet Cells / metabolism
  • Mucins / genetics
  • Mucins / metabolism*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Messenger / metabolism
  • Staining and Labeling
  • Sus scrofa
  • Weaning*
  • Zinc Oxide / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Cytokines
  • Mucins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Zinc Oxide

Grants and funding

This study has been supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) through a grant of the Collaborative Research Group SFB 852/Project C3, “Nutrition and Intestinal Microbiota – Host Interactions in the pig.” The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.