Effects of astragalus and ginseng polysaccharides on growth performance, immune function and intestinal barrier in weaned piglets challenged with lipopolysaccharide

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of astragalus polysaccharides (Aps) and ginseng polysaccharide (Gps) on growth performance, liver function, immune function, TLR4 signalling pathways and intestinal barrier in weaned piglets challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In an experiment spanning 28 days, 180 weaned piglets were randomly divided into three treatment groups: basal diet (Con), basal diet supplemented with 800 mg/kg Gps (Gps) and basal diet supplemented with 800 mg/kg Aps (Aps). At the end of the experiment, 12 piglets of each group were selected; half (n = 6) were intraperitoneally injected with LPS and half with normal saline. Dietary supplementation with Aps and Gps significantly increased (p < .05) the average daily gain and feed conversion rate. Lipopolysaccharide challenge increased (p < .05) expression of serum urea nitrogen (BUN), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and tumour inflammatory factor‐α (TNF‐α), but decreased (p < .05) serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) level, total antioxidant capacity (T‐AOC) and immunoglobulin A (IgA) expression. Lipopolysaccharide‐challenged piglets fed with Aps or Gps had lower (p < .05) BUN, ALT, AST, IL‐1β and TNF‐α levels and greater (p < .05) SOD, T‐AOC and IgA levels. Lipopolysaccharide challenge increased (p < .05) the expression of TLR4, MyD88 and NF‐κB, and LPS‐challenged piglets fed diets supplemented with Aps or Gps increased TLR4 and MyD88 and decreased NF‐κB expression. Lipopolysaccharide challenge reduced (p < .05) the jejunal villus height, and piglets fed with Aps or Gps had increased (p < .05) jejunal villus height. Supplementation with Aps or Gps enhanced the expression of occludin and claudin in challenged or unchallenged piglets. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with Aps or Gps enhanced piglet growth performance, alleviated liver dysfunction and reduced immunological stress caused by LPS, as well as increased the intestinal barrier function.

Effects of Soybean Isoflavone and Astragalus Polysaccharide Mixture on Colostrum Components, Serum Antioxidant, Immune and Hormone Levels of Lactating Sows

“…Franke [ 21 ] reported that SI could be detected in the milk of women who ate soybeans, indicating that SI could enter the milk through body metabolism. Our results showed that there were no significant differences in diarrhea and mortality ratio between groups, which is not consistent with Wang’s [ 18 ] results. This could be explained by that the piglets’ digestive systems are underdeveloped and normally lack of necessary intestinal microorganisms, which made them unable to fully utilize the SI and APS from milk, and another reason may be that the SI was less effective when compared to ginseng polysaccharide on regulating the physiological function of piglets.…”

“…Meanwhile, Li [ 16 ] found that SI caused no significant improvement in the production performance of suckling pigs. Feeding APS can improve the growth performance of large yellow croaker [ 17 ], and Wang [ 18 ] found that the APS together with ginseng polysaccharide increased the average daily gain and decrease the feed conversation ratio of piglets. In this study, the SI and APS mixture significantly improved the average daily feed intake and lactation yield of lactation sows.…”

“…SI is structurally similar to mammalian estrogens and therefore may act as estrogen agonists [ 19 ], which can act on the gonadal axis to promote testosterone and prolactin secretion in the lactating sows [ 20 ], which improves the lactation yield and can reduce piglet mortality. In Wang’s [ 18 ] study, APS and ginseng polysaccharide increased the survival rate and average daily gain of piglets. Franke [ 21 ] reported that SI could be detected in the milk of women who ate soybeans, indicating that SI could enter the milk through body metabolism.…”

Effects of Astragalus polysaccharides on intestinal morphology and intestinal immune cells of Muscovy ducklings infected with Muscovy duck reovirus

“…The result is in agreement with another report on weaned piglets whose jejunal villus length and V/C ratio was enhanced on feeding APS-supplemented diets ( Yang et al., 2019 ). Similarly, piglets fed with APS had increased jejunal villus length ( Wang et al., 2019 ). Furthermore, dietary APS has been found to decrease duodenum crypt depth of breeder cocks and jejunum crypt depth in broiler chickens, as well as increase the jejunum villus length and V/C ratios of breeder cocks together with the jejunum V/C radio of broiler chickens, suggesting that APS supplementation had transgenerational effects in promoting jejunal morphology of broilers ( Li et al., 2018 ).…”

“…Multiple cytokines, which could help T cells and B cells to proliferate, are associated with cellular immune responses and humoral immunity, and they are equally important in intestinal stimulation of sIgA secretion to establish one of the many links between sIgA production, immunocyte immunity, and intestinal homeostasis ( Loman et al., 1999 ; Newberry and Lorenz, 2005 ). In addition, the evidence exists in piglets in which feeding of APS significantly increased the intestinal barrier function by decreasing IL-1β, TNF-α levels and increasing toll-like receptor 4 and myeloid differentiation factor 88 and decreased NF-κB expression ( Wang et al., 2019 ). In view of the intricacy of the interactions and dynamics of cytokines, it is very imperative to define such effects and mechanisms of APS on intestinal mucosa.…”