Benefits of resistant starch (RS) consumption on host physiology encompass microbial activity-derived attenuation of intestinal inflammation. However, little is known about anti-inflammatory properties of RS of type 4. This study compared the effects of transglycosylated starch (TGS) consumption on the jejunal barrier function and expression of genes related to inflammation, barrier function and the mucosal defence in jejunum, ileum, caecum and colon of pigs. Moreover, interactions of TGS-induced alterations in bacterial metabolites and composition with host mucosal responses were assessed using sparse partial least squares regression and relevance network analysis. Intestinal samples were collected after pigs (n 8/diet; 4 months of age) were fed the experimental diets for 10 d. Consumption of TGS did not modify jejunal barrier function and gene expression. By contrast, TGS down-regulated the caecal expression of zonula occludens-1 and mucin 2 and of genes within the toll-like receptor 4 and NF-κB pro-inflammatory signalling cascade. Relevance networks revealed a microbiome signature on ileal, caecal and colonic mucosal signalling as TGS-derived changes in bacterial genera and fermentation acids, such as propionic acid, correlated with the differently expressed genes in ileum, caecum and colon of pigs. In conclusion, the present findings suggest certain anti-inflammatory capabilities of TGS by down-regulating the expression of pro-inflammatory pathways in the caecal mucosa, which seems to be mediated, at least in part, by TGS-induced changes in microbial action in the large intestine.
Keywords: AMPK AMP-activated protein kinase; CON control starch; IAP intestinal alkaline phosphatase; MAMP microbiota-associated molecular patterns; MUC2 mucin 2; MUC4 mucin 4; OCLN occludin; RS resistant starch; TGS transglycosylated starch; TLR-α toll-like receptor; ZO1 zonula occludens-1; sPLS sparse partial least squares; Bacterial signatures; Innate immune responses; Pigs; Resistant starch type 4; SCFA.