J. Anim Sci.
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J. Anim Sci. 2009. 87:1941-1949. doi:10.2527/jas.2008-1624
© 2009 American Society of Animal Science
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ANIMAL GROWTH, PHYSIOLOGY, AND REPRODUCTION

Heat-stress-induced damage to porcine small intestinal epithelium associated with downregulation of epithelial growth factor signaling1

F. Liu*,{dagger}, J. Yin{ddagger}, M. Du§, P. Yan*,3,2, J. Xu#,||,2, X. Zhu# and J. Yu{dagger}

* College of Animal Science and Technology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, P. R. China; and {dagger} Department of Animal Science and Technology, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing 102206, P. R. China; and {ddagger} College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P. R. China; and § Department of Animal Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie 82071; and # College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, P. R. China; and || Key Laboratory of Development and Evaluation of the Chemical and Herbal Drugs for Animal Use, Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing 100193, P. R. China

3 Corresponding author: yanps126{at}126.com

Extreme heat during certain days of the summer renders pigs susceptible to severe heat stress, which negatively affects their growth performance. We hypothesized that such heat stress impaired the small intestinal mucosa, a site responsible for nutrient absorption. To simulate heat stress, Chinese experimental mini-pigs were treated with 5 h of continual 40°C temperature each day for 10 d in succession. Pigs were killed at 1, 3, 6 and 10 d after treatment, and small intestinal epithelia were sampled for histochemical examination and biochemical analyses. The duodenum and jejunum were seriously damaged within 3 d of initiation of treatment. Subsequent study of the process of jejunum recovery showed that the initiation of recovery started within 6 d following heat stress. Such damage was associated with the downregulation of epithelial growth factor signaling. In conclusion, heat stress induced short-term damage to the epithelium of porcine intestine. Because the intestinal epithelium is crucial for nutrient uptake, such damage should partially account for the impairment of growth performance of pigs under heat stress.

Key Words: epithelial growth factor • gene expression • heat stress • intestinal mucosa • swine






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