Long-term intake of pea fiber affects colonic barrier function, bacterial and transcriptional profile in pig model

Nutr Cancer. 2014;66(3):388-99. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2014.884229. Epub 2014 Mar 10.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of long-term intake of pea fiber (PF) on colonic health and the underlying mechanism. Fifty weaned piglets were randomly allocated into 2 groups receiving control and fibrous diet with inclusion of PF from weaning to Day 160 postweaning, with 5 pens in each group and 5 pigs in each pen. Compared with control diet, long-term intake of PF diet induced deeper crypt and increased colonic barrier-related protein expression of mucin and sIgA. As indicated by the increased lactobacillus content, pigs fed PF diet had a stimulating effect on bacterial fermentation in the colon, thus a higher concentration of colonic total short chain fatty acid and acetic acid were observed. DNA microarray results suggested that feeding PF diet inhibited 77% of genes (40 downregulated and 12 upregulated genes) related to colonic cancer, immune response, and lipid metabolism, involving in signal pathway such as intestinal immune network for IgA production, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor signaling pathway and nutrient metabolism-related pathways. Collectively, our results suggested that long-term intake of PF would improve colonic function via altering colonic barriers, colonic immune and metabolism-related protein or gene expressions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism
  • Colon / drug effects*
  • Colon / microbiology
  • Colon / physiology*
  • Dietary Fiber / pharmacology*
  • Fatty Acids, Volatile / metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation / drug effects*
  • Lactobacillus / drug effects
  • Mucins / metabolism
  • Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
  • Peptides / metabolism
  • Pisum sativum*
  • Swine / growth & development
  • Trefoil Factor-2

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Dietary Fiber
  • Fatty Acids, Volatile
  • Mucins
  • Peptides
  • Trefoil Factor-2
  • surface layer protein A, Bacteria