Dietary Astragalus Crude Extract Boosts Piglet Growth and Mitigates Weaning Stress by Enhancing Antioxidant Activity, Improving Immunity, and Modulating Intestinal Microbiota

Figures

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  Figure 3. Effect of AN or CE on relative mRNA expression levels of the liver and intestinal tract in piglets at 14 days post-weaning. (A) Jejunal mRNA expression (B) Ileal mRNA expression (C) Liver antioxidant mRNA expression. CON, a control fed the basal diet; AN, the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg aureomycin; CE, the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg Astragalus crude extract. SOD1, superoxide dismutase 1; CAT, catalase; NQO1, NAD (P)H quinone oxidoreductase 1; HO-1, Heme Oxygenase 1; GPX1, glutathione peroxidase 1; Nrf2, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2; Trx, thioredoxin. SEM, standard error of the means. The data are expressed as mean ± SEM, n = 5 in each group. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

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  Figure 4. Effect of AN or CE on intestinal barrier function in piglets at 14 days post-weaning. (A) Western blot of jejunal tight junction protein and relative protein level (B) Western blot of ileal tight junction protein and relative protein level (C) Plasma DAO activity of weaned piglet. CON, a control fed the basal diet; AN, the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg aureomycin; CE, the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg Astragalus crude extract. DAO, diamine oxidase. SEM, standard error of the means. The data are expressed as mean ± SEM, DAO activity determination: n = 5 in each group; Western blot of tight junction protein: n = 3. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

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  Figure 1. Effects of AN or CE on plasma and intestinal mucosal cytokine and immunoglobulin levels in piglets at 14 days post-weaning. (A) Plasma cytokine content of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α (B) Jejunal mucosal cytokine content of IL-1β and TNF-α (C) Ileal mucosal cytokine content of IL-1β and TNF-α (D) Plasma IgA, G, and M content (E) Jejunal and ileal mucosal secretory IgA (sIgA) content. CON, a control fed the basal diet; AN, the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg aureomycin; CE, the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg Astragalus crude extract. IL-1β, interleukin 1β; IL-6, interleukin 6; IL-10, interleukin 10; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor α; IgA, IgG, IgM, immunoglobulin A, G, M. SEM, standard error of the means. The data are expressed as mean ± SEM, n = 5 in each group. * p < 0.05.

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  Figure 2. Effect of AN or CE on plasma, liver, and intestinal mucosa antioxidant enzyme activities in piglets at 14 days post-weaning. (A) Plasma T-AOC level, T-SOD activity, and MDA content (B) Liver T-AOC level, T-SOD activity, and MDA content (C) Jejunal mucosal T-AOC level, T-SOD activity, and MDA content (D) Ileal mucosal T-AOC level, T-SOD activity, and MDA content. CON, a control fed the basal diet; AN, the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg aureomycin; CE, the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg Astragalus crude extract. T-AOC, total antioxidant capacity; T-SOD, total superoxide dismutase; MDA, malondialdehyde. SEM, standard error of the means. The data are expressed as mean ± SEM, n = 5 in each group. * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

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  Figure 5. Effect of AN or CE on ileal microbiota in piglets at 14 days post-weaning. (A–C) α-diversity of Chao, Shannon, and Simpson index (D) Venn diagram of the amplicon sequence variant counts (E) β-diversity of principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) (F,G) Microbial composition at phylum and genus level (H) Genus-level differential analysis between CON and CE groups (I) Genus-level differential analysis between AN and CE groups. CON, a control fed the basal diet; AN, the basal diet with 1000 mg/kg aureomycin; CE, the basal diet containing 500 mg/kg Astragalus crude extract.

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  Figure 6. Correlation heatmaps between plasma antioxidant enzyme activity and bacterial genera. T-SOD: total superoxide dismutase; T-AOC: total antioxidant activity; MDA: malondialdehyde; IgA: immunoglobulin A. * 0.01< p ≤ 0.05, ** 0.001 < p ≤ 0.01, *** p ≤ 0.001.