After weaning, the nutrient intake of piglets decreases significantly in the first few days due to changes in environment and diet. During periods of dietary decline, which results in villous atrophy, crypt hyperplasia, and expression of proinflammatory cytokines, piglets must adjust intestinal proliferation and differentiation to adapt to weaning stress. In this experiment, 4 levels of feed intake were studied: free intake (100%), low-level feed restriction (80%), maintenance needs group (40%), and high-intensity feed restriction (20%) on the intestinal tract of piglets. Effects on morphological structure and epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. The results of this study show that high-intensity feed restriction regulates intestinal stem cells by upregulating the expression of interleukin17 (IL-17) and IL-22, thereby increasing goblet cell differentiation.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.