Modulating Effect of Paeonol on Piglets With Ulcerative Colitis

Shanshan Wang; Miaomiao Bai; Qingyan Shu; Zhengan Liu; Yirui Shao; Kang Xu; Xia Xiong; Hongnan Liu; Yao Li

doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.846684

Modulating Effect of Paeonol on Piglets With Ulcerative Colitis

Front Nutr. 2022 Apr 13:9:846684. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2022.846684. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Shanshan Wang¹, Miaomiao Bai², Qingyan Shu³, Zhengan Liu³, Yirui Shao², Kang Xu², Xia Xiong², Hongnan Liu², Yao Li¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Animal Nutrition, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China.
² Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Nutritional Physiology and Metabolic Process; National Engineering Laboratory for Pollution Control and Waste Utilization in Livestock and Poultry Production; Key Laboratory of Agro-ecological Processes in Subtropical Region; Hunan Provincial Engineering Research Center for Healthy Livestock and Poultry Production; Scientific Observing and Experimental Station of Animal Nutrition and Feed Science in South-Central, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha, China.
³ Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China.

Abstract

Piglet enteritis is a major problem that needs to be solved urgently in modern pig production. Paeonol (Pae) has been used as a novel treatment option due to its good medicinal value. This study purported to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of Pae on dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced ulcerative colitis (UC) in weaned piglets. A total of 36 crossbred (Duroc × Landrace × Yorkshire) weaned piglets were stochastically split into six groups: the control group, DSS group, 0.2% Pae group, 0.4% Pae group, 0.8% Pae group, and mesalazine group. The control and DSS groups were fed with a basic diet, the three Pae and mesalazine groups were fed with 0.2, 0.4, 0.8%, and 2 g mesalazine per kilogram of basic diet throughout the study. On the 15th day of the test period, the control group was gavaged with 10 ml of normal saline, while the remaining five groups were gavaged with 10 ml 5% DSS solution for 13 days. The study lasted for 27 days. The results showed that the 0.8% Pae group significantly increased the average daily feed intake (ADFI) and Occludin mRNA expression in the colon of piglets (P < 0.05). The 0.2% Pae group markedly increased the average daily gain (ADG) and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) mRNA expression (P < 0.05). In the 0.2% and 0.4% Pae groups, the feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) was significantly reduced and the mRNA expression levels of Caspase-8, respectively, markedly enhanced the mRNA expression levels of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and interleukins-4 (IL-4) (P < 0.05). In the 0.8% Pae group, the relative abundance of Campilobacterota was significantly reduced (P < 0.05). In the 0.4% Pae group, the relative abundance of Firmicutes was notably increased (P < 0.05). In the 0.2 and 0.8% Pae groups, the relative abundance of Prevotella was markedly increased (P < 0.05). In the 0.2% Pae group, the contents of propionic acid, butyric acid, and valerate acid were markedly higher (P < 0.05). Thus, it is speculated that Pae may regulate the balance of anti-inflammatory/pro-inflammatory factors, improve intestinal tight junction expression, reduce apoptosis, and improve intestinal microflora structure and growth performance of piglets, thereby restoring intestinal barrier function and alleviating DSS-induced UC in piglets.

Keywords: inflammatory factors; intestinal barrier; intestinal flora; paeonol; ulcerative colitis.