Effects of Sow Diet Supplemented with Arginine on the Number of Intestinal Immunological Cells of Piglets

This study was conducted to study the effects of sowdiet supplemented with arginine( Arg) on the number of intestinal mucosal immune cells of offspring piglets. On day 30 of gestation,twenty pregnant sows( Landrace×White) were randomly divided into 2 groups( 10 pregnant sows per group),receiving a basal diet and the basal diet supplemented with 1% Arg,respectively. Eight neonatal piglets with a normal birth weight( control group) and 8 piglets with intrauterine growth retardation( IUGR group) chosen from the sows fed the basal diet,respectively,and 8 IUGR piglets( Arg+IUGR group) chosen from the sows fed the basal diet supplemented with 1% Arg. Four piglets of each group were slaughtered to determine the number of immune cells in jejunum and ileum mucosae at 7 and 21 days of age. The results showed that compared with IUGR group,the average daily gain of piglets in Arg+IUGR group was increased at 8 to 21 days of age and 1 to 21 days of age( P0.05). Compared with IUGR group,the number of mast cells in jejunum and goblet cells in ileum of piglets in Arg+IUGR group were significantly increased at 7 days of age( P0.01),and the number of mast cells in ileum and goblet cells in jejunum were increased( P0.05). At 21 days of age,the number of mast cells and goblet cells in jejunum were significantly increased( P0.05),as well as the number of goblet cells in ileum( P0.05). The results indicate that the pregnant sowdiet supplemented with Arg can increase the average daily gain and the number of immune cells in intestinal mucosa of IUGR piglets,and enhance intestinal immunity of offspring.