ACTA VETERINARIA ET ZOOTECHNICA SINICA ›› 2018, Vol. 49 ›› Issue (3): 549-558.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2018.03.011

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Effects of Glucagon-like Peptide-2 on Gastrointestinal Weight, Rumen Fermentation and Expression of Small Intestinal Epithelial Development-Related Genes in Lambs

LIU Li-xiang, SUN Da-ming, MAO Sheng-yong, LIU Jun-hua*   

  1. Laboratory of Gastrointestinal Microbiology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China
  • Received:2017-09-05 Online:2018-03-23 Published:2018-03-23

Abstract:

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) on gastrointestinal weight, rumen fermentation and expression of small intestinal epithelial development-related genes in lambs. In the present study, 10 lambs were randomly assigned into 2 groups:control group (0.5% bovine serum albumin(BSA) in saline, n=5) and GLP-2 group (50 μg·kg-1 BW GLP-2 in 0.5% bovine serum albumin, n=5). At 28 days-old, lambs were subcutaneously injected with BSA or GLP-2 once every 12 hours in the following 14 days. At 42 days-old, all lambs were slaughtered at 2 h after the first injection. Rumen fluid was collected for the analysis of rumen pH and VFA concentration, and the small intestine epithelium was used for quantitative analysis. The results showed that:1) The body weight and gastrointestinal weight of lambs in GLP-2 group were not significantly affected(P>0.05). GLP-2 treatment had a tendency to increase the weight of jejunum(P=0.083) and ileum(P=0.060). 2) GLP-2 injection significantly increased plasma GLP-2 concentration(P=0.025), while there was no significant change in plasma glucose, rumen pH and VFA concentration (P > 0.05) compared with control group. 3) Compared with the control group, GLP-2 injection significantly increased the mRNA expression of Cyclin B1 (P=0.001), Cyclin D1 (P=0.044), CDK1 (P=0.028), CDK6 (P=0.016) in duodenum epithelium and Cyclin A (P=0.028), Cyclin B1 (P=0.016), CDK1 (P=0.013), CDK4 (P=0.023), CDK6 (P=0.028) in jejunum epithelium, and Cyclin A (P=0.025), Cyclin D1 (P=0.001), CDK2 (P=0.013), CDK4 (P=0.020) in ileum epithelium. 4) The mRNA expression of GCG (P=0.036), IGF-1R (P=0.031) in duodenum epithelium and the mRNA expression of GCG (P=0.049), IGF-1 (P=0.027), IGF-1R (P=0.036) and GLP-2R (P=0.011) in jejunum epithelium, and the mRNA expression of GCG (P=0.025), IGF-1 (P=0.029), IGF-1R (P=0.029) and GLP-2R (P=0.032) in ileum epithelium in GLP-2 group were significantly higher than that in the control group.These results suggest that subcutaneous injection of GLP-2 have no significant effect on body weight, gastrointestinal weight and rumen environment in lambs. However, GLP-2 have a tendency to increase jejunum weight and ileum weight, elevate plasma GLP-2 concentration, significantly affect the expression of small intestinal epithelial development-related genes, and promote the development of the small intestine in lambs. These findings will provide new insight into nutritional strategies for promoting the development of small intestine in lambs.

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