Effect of Glucocorticoids and Limiting Nursing on the Carbohydrate Digestive Capacity and Growth Rate of Piglets

Abstract

The influence of glucocorticoid administration and limited nursing on piglet carbohydrase enzyme development and subsequent growth was examined in three experiments using 371 piglets. Treatments in the first two experiments were formed by the factorial arrangement of hydrocortisone (-HYD or +HYD) and limited nursing (-LN or +LN) imposed form d 14 to weaning (d 28). Hydrocortisone was replaced by adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) in the third experiment. Growth rates were severely depressed by HYD (P less than .01), LN (P less than .001) and to a lesser extent (P less than .06) by ACTH during the last 2 wk of lactation. During the first 14 d postweaning, piglets continued to grow more slowly following HYD treatment (P less than .01), whereas LN piglets grew more rapidly than those allowed to suckle normally. Although piglets were smaller at weaning after HYD injection (P less than .01), relative weights of liver, pancreas and small intestine were increased (P less than .05). Only adrenal weights were increased by ACTH (P less than .09). Pancreatic and intestinal amylase activities were increased two- to three-fold by HYD injection (P less than .05) but were unaffected by ACTH or LN (P greater than .10). Sucrase and maltase activity increased linearly with age (P less than .001). This rate of increase was numerically enhanced by glucocorticoid treatment and LN. The normal decrease in lactase activity was accelerated by LN and HYD injection, with the greatest depression caused by the combination of LN and either HYD or ACTH administration (P less than .05). Glucocorticoid administration to nursing piglets can evoke premature elevation of the carbohydrase enzymes necessary for initiating the hydrolysis of starch.

Effect of milk deprivation during the lactation period on performance and digestive enzyme activities of the piglets following weaning

“…To differentiate between creep feed intakes of LS and NS piglets, creep feed could only be offered whilst the LS piglets were removed from the sow. This was probably the reason why creep feed intakes by NS piglets in this study were less than in other studies where suckling was restricted (Thompson et al, 1981;Chapple et al, 1989), or in the multi-suckling system (Wattanakul et al, 1997a) but was a necessary consequence of the model system used. In the current study, even though the amount of creep feed offered to the LS piglets was the same as the daily intake of NS piglets, a small and non-significant amount of creep feed was not consumed.…”

“…Sample preparation and enzyme analysis The methods used for sample preparation were adapted from Chapple et al (1989). The frozen small intestine segments and pancreas were thawed on crushed ice, and the mucosa gently scraped off with a spatula.…”

Carbenoxolone Accelerates Maturation of Rat Intestine

“…A beneficial effect of glucocorticoids on intestinal growth and on villus height and crypt depth was observed in suckling and weanling mammals of various species (7,8,36), including organ culture of suckling rat jejunum (37). In contrast, adrenalectomy (38) or administration of glucocorticoid antagonists (9) retarded both the growth and the increase of crypt depth and villus height, which are typical for the weaning period (6).…”

The Prenatal Development and Glucocorticoid Control of Brush-Border Hydrolases in the Pig Small Intestine

“…(Pediatr Res 37: 207-212, 1995) decline of lactase activity is less clear, because both increases and decreases in lactase activity have been found in response to exogenous glucocorticoids (6,9). In the pig, adrenocortical secretion reaches a peak at birth (10) and pharmacologic doses of glucocorticoids have little effect on disaccharidase activities in the suckling pig (11)(12)(13)(14). Hence, it is possible that, in the pig, glucocorticoids have their primary regulatory role in the ontogeny of gut enzymes in the prenatal and immediate postnatal period.…”