Premium
Sow‐reared neonatal pigs exhibit increased innate immune response compared to formula‐fed piglets
Author(s) -
Thampi Prajitha,
Burris Ramona L,
Helm Rick M,
Nagarajan Shanmugam
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a376-a
Subject(s) - innate immune system , chemokine , immune system , biology , monocyte , chemotaxis , immunology , immunity , andrology , medicine , receptor , biochemistry
Breast milk with its varied immune modulating components helps develop stronger resistance against infections in infants than formula feeding. The increased resistance to infection in breast‐fed infants could be due to augmentation of innate immune response, a first line of defense against pathogens. In this study we studied the effect of formula feeding on the development and function of the innate immune system in a neonatal pig model. Piglets were sow‐reared or weaned at postnatal day 2 to a milk‐ or soy‐based infant formula. At postnatal day 21, innate immune responses such as reactive oxygen species generation (ROS), chemokine‐mediated chemotaxis of neutrophils and monocytes were studied. Neutrophils and monocytes from sow‐reared piglets generated higher levels of ROS compared to milk‐ or soy‐formula fed piglets. Migration of neutrophils using fMLP as a chemoattractant, showed no difference in chemotactic index between sow‐reared and formula‐fed pigs. Flow cytometric analyses showed the number of monocytes in peripheral blood were not different among the three groups. However, a monocyte chemokine, MCP‐1 mediated monocyte chemotaxis was higher (p<0.05) in soy‐fed piglets compared to sow‐reared or milk‐formula fed piglets. Collectively, these findings suggest that the neonatal innate immune system in sow‐reared pigs is functionally better adapted than formula‐fed piglets. Supported by ARS USDA CRIS6251‐51000‐003‐065.