Grape seed proanthocyanidins supplementation attenuates diquat-induced intestinal barrier damage in weaned pigs

ObjectiveGrape seed proanthocyanidins (GSP) is a kind of plant polyphenols with a wide variety of biological activities. In the present study, we evaluated whether GSP can alleviate intestinal injury in weaned pigs injected with diquat.MethodsA total of 32 pigs were randomly assigned to four groups (n = 8): (1) nonchallenged control; (2) control + 50 mg/kg GSP; (3) diquat-treated control and (4) diquat + 50 mg/kg GSP. On the morning of day 15, the pigs were injected with diquat (10 mg per kg body weight) or saline, and were then killed to obtain the serum and intestinal segments 7 days later. ResultsThe results showed that GSP addition decreased (P < 0.05) the urea concentration and increased (P < 0.05) the total superoxide dismutase activity in serum of diquat-challenged pigs. GSP increased (P < 0.05) the ileal villus height and duodenal and ileal villus height to crypt depth ratio in diquat-challenged pigs. GSP supplementation not only down-regulated (P < 0.05) the cysteinyl aspartic acid-protease-3 (Caspase-3), Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 expression levels but also up-regulated (P < 0.05) the expression levels of Claudin-1 and zonula occludens-1 in the small intestine. Furthermore, GSP supplementation increased (P < 0.05) the cecal Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Bacillus populations and colonic Bacillus population in diquat-challenged pigs.ConclusionThese findings suggest that GSP can attenuate diquat-induced intestinal mucosa disruption, which was linked to enhancement of the antioxidant capacity and improvement in intestinal microbiota.