Intestinal villi structure during the development of pig and wild boar crossbreed neonates

Modification in mucosa structure can be used to evaluate intestinal function during the development. Our study aimed to compare the postnatal gut mucosa structure in Polish landrace/Pietrain (PP) and Duroc/Hampshire/wild boar (DHW) crossbreed piglets using scanning electron microscopy. Small intestinal mucosa showed a number of changes characteristic for PP and DHW pigs involving the modification of villi shape, disappearance of transversal furrows, formation of extrusion zones and presence of apoptotic cell packets.