The perinatal development of the gastrointestinal tract in piglets can be modified by supplementation of sow diet with bioactive substances

Dietary bioactive substances involving taurine, l-carnitine, polyunsaturated fatty acids, flavonoids and antioxidants were shown to control the perinatal development in mammals. A blend of bioactive substances was used to supplement the diet of sows according to the optimal needs of their offspring. Our study aimed to examine the development of gastrointestinal tract in their offspring as compared to the offspring from control sows fed with standard diet. The supplemented diet was given from the gestation day 80 until the end of lactation period. One piglet from each litter was sacrificed on postnatal days 1 (i.e., unsuckling neonates), 2, 4, 7, 14, and 28 for tissue sampling. At birth, the stomach relative weight was larger in the supplemented group, and the small intestine relative weight was smaller as compared to control. These differences disappeared within 1–4 postnatal days. The stomach weight was larger at postnatal day 28 in the supplemented group as compared to control. Gastric protein content and the proteolytic activity in the offspring of the supplemented sows showed after birth a tendency to increase as compared to control, though the differences disappeared after the fourth postnatal day. In conclusion, the supplementation of sow diet with dietary bioactive substances affected primarily the prenatal development of the stomach and small intestine in their offspring.