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Dietary l-arginine supplementation enhances the immune status in early-weaned piglets

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Abstract

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that dietary L-arginine supplementation enhances immunity in early weaned piglets. Seventy piglets weaned at 7 days of age were assigned to five groups (14 pigs/group), representing supplementation of 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8% l-arginine to a milk-based formula. On Day 7 after initiation of treatment, spleen weight in piglets supplemented with 0.2 and 0.8% arginine was heavier and thymus size was larger in piglets supplemented with 0.6% arginine, whereas serum concentration of immunoglobulin (Ig) M was higher but that of IL-8 was lower in piglets supplemented with 0.6 and 0.8% arginine, compared with the control group. Dietary supplementation with 0.8% arginine increased the numbers of white blood cells and granulocytes, and gene expression of interleukin (IL)-8 in spleen. On Day 14, compared with control piglets, granulocyte numbers were greater but lymphocyte numbers were lower in piglets supplemented with 0.2 and 0.4% arginine, whereas splenic expression of IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α genes was increased in piglets supplemented with 0.8% arginine. Additionally, IgG and IgM concentrations in serum and growth performance were greater in piglets supplemented with 0.4–0.8% arginine, compared with unsupplemented piglets. Collectively, dietary supplementation with 0.4–0.8% l-arginine for 2 weeks enhances both cellular and humoral immunity in piglets by modulating the production of leukocytes, cytokines and antibodies. These results indicate that increasing l-arginine provision is beneficial for optimal immune responses in young pigs and also have important implications for designing the next generation of improved formula for human infants.

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Abbreviations

Ig:

Immunoglobulin

IL:

Interleukin

NO:

Nitric oxide

RT-PCR:

Real-time polymerase-chain reaction

TNF:

Tumor necrosis factor

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Outstanding Overseas Chinese Scholars Fund of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS; no. 2005-1-4 and 2005-1-7), CAS Knowledge Innovation Project (no. YW-N-022 and KSCX2-SW-323), the National Basic Research Program of China (no. 2004CB117502), National Natural Science Foundation of China (no. 30671517, 30528006 and 30371038), Texas AgriLife Research (H-8200), and National Research Initiative Competitive Grant (no. 2008-35206-18764) from the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Health, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, 410125, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Bie Tan, Xinguo G. Li, Xiangfeng Kong, Ruilin Huang, Kang Yao, Yulong Yin & Guoyao Wu

  2. The Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100039, Beijing, China

    Bie Tan & Kang Yao

  3. Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, 2471 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77845, USA

    Bie Tan, Xiangfeng Kong & Guoyao Wu

  4. Hunan Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, 410131, Changsha, Hunan, China

    Xinguo G. Li

  5. Key Laboratory of Food Science of The Ministry of Education, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Nanchang University, 330047, Nanchang, China

    Zheng Ruan, Zeyuan Deng, Mingyong Xie & Yulong Yin

  6. Department of Animal Nutrition, Ajinomoto Inc, Tokyo, 104-8135, Japan

    Izuru Shinzato

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  1. Bie Tan
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  2. Xinguo G. Li
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  9. Izuru Shinzato
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  10. Yulong Yin
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  11. Guoyao Wu
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Correspondence to Yulong Yin or Guoyao Wu.

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Tan, B., Li, X.G., Kong, X. et al. Dietary l-arginine supplementation enhances the immune status in early-weaned piglets. Amino Acids 37, 323–331 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-008-0155-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-008-0155-1

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