Effects of Dietary Exogenous Spermine Supplemented to Late-Pregnant Sows and Suckling Piglets on Intestinal Morphology and Disaccharidase Activity of Newborn and 28-Day-Old Piglets

A successive feeding experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of dietary exogenous spermine supplemented to late-pregnant sows and suckling piglets on intestinal morphology and disaccharidase activity of newborn and 28-day-old piglets in order to achieve a technology to alleviate early weaned stress syndrome of piglets.In the stage 1,spermine was added to a late-pregnant sow diet at a level of 0(group Ⅰ),1.5(group Ⅱ) or 3.0 mg/kg(group Ⅲ),respectively,and then the diets were offered randomly to one of three groups of sows(Large White×Yorkshire) from day 91 after pregnancy to parturition,each group had 2 sows,and all the pregnant sows had the similar live weight,condition and the same boar when the experiment started;in the stage 2,suckling piglets in groups Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ were accordingly offered a creep diet supplemented with spermine at a level of 0,3.0 or 6.0 mg/kg from 7 to 28 days of age.At birth and 28 days of age,one piglet with the average body weight from each sow was killed to determine the development of gastrointestinal tract.The results showed that compared with the no-added-spermine diet(group Ⅰ),the pregnant sow diet that added spermine at a level of 3.0 mg/kg significantly increased the number of cylindric cells in duodenum and ileum,the number of goblet cells in duodenum and jejunum,the crypt depth,and the specific activities of maltase and sucrase in jejunum of newborn piglets(P0.05).The suckling piglet diet that supplemented with the spermine at a level of 6.0 mg/kg significantly increased the mucosal weight of jejunum and the specific activities of maltase and sucrase in duodenum and jejunum(P0.05),and increased the number of cylindric and goblet cells in jejunum and the crypt depth in duodenum and jejunum of 28-day-old piglets(P0.01).Spermine supplemented to the diets of late-pregnant sows and of suckling piglets is conducive to the early development of intestinal morphology and disaacharidase activity in newborn and 28-day-old piglets.