Influence of food intervention on enteric nervous system and enteroendocrine cells development in a small for gestational age piglet model

The gut immaturity of small for gestational age (SGA) infants predisposes these infants to gastrointestinal diseases like necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). A SGA piglet model was used to investigate the influences of birth weight and diet on the development of the enteric nervous system (ENS) and entero-endocrine system (EES) during the first month of life, via multivariate analyses. Newborn SGA or AGA (average for gestational age) piglets were randomized into two diet groups: sow reared (SR, 24h/day with the sow) or formula fed (FF, milk replacer) after colostrum intake. Gut samples (duodenum, ileum, colon, rectum) were collected at postnatal day (PD) 1, 14 and 28, and used for immunohistochemistry (IHC) (n=4/subgroup). Neuronal markers (BIII tubulin (B3T), synaptophysin (SYN), neuropeptide Y (NPY), tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)) and EES markers (Chromogranin A (CoA), somatostatin (SOM), serotonin (SER), NPY, Neurotensin (NeuroT)) were used to assess the development of the ENS and enteroendocrine cells (EECs), respectively. At PD1, the ENS of AGA animals was almost fully developed compared with PD14 and PD28. For SGA piglets, a delayed development of nerve endings was observed on PD1 associated with a less developed synaptic system in the enteric nervous ganglia, particularly in colon and rectum. The delayed development of nerve terminals and synaptic system in SGA animals was observed up to PD14. While by PD14, the intensity of SYN staining was similar in all groups. At D28 only, FF piglets presented with a lower number of noradrenergic nerve endings in the ENS (p=0.001). The expression of NPY remained the same between AGA and SGA groups during the first month of postnatal life. Along the study the maturation of the EES was shown to be a dynamic process. The number of CoA, SER and NPY positive cells was influenced by the feeding strategy as their cell numbers increased overtime with SR diet (p<0.001, p<0.001, p=0.004, respectively). NeuroT cell numbers varied overtime in the different gut sections (p<0.001), and is not influenced by nutritional intervention. Overall, this study demonstrates that the development of ENS and EES can be influenced by birth weight and/or diet and provides a useful model for studying intestinal maturation in different birth weight infants. Finally, we identified for the first time that the ENS is less developed in SGA piglets, and the maturation of the EES has shown to be a diet-dependent dynamic process.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

VMS - Pathobiology

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Zhang, Xuejin

• small for gestational age (SGA)
• average for gestational age (AGA)
• Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)
• development
• gastrointestinal tract (GIT)
• enteroendocrine cells
• enteric nervous system (ENS)
• pig
• immunohistochemistry (IHC)

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2015 Xuejin Zhang

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/78667

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/78667