Absorption of Colostral Gamma-Globulins and Insulin by the Newborn Pig

Oral Insulin Increases Small Intestinal Mass and Disaccharidase Activity in the Newborn Miniature Pig

“…Neverthe- less, pharmacologic doses of oral insulin (more than 170-fold higher than those used in our study) administered to piglets and human infants less than 24-h-old decreased serum glucose, presumably by having been absorbed (28,29). This response does not occur in older animals (rats), even at pharmacologic doses (30).…”

Intestinal effects of milkborne growth factors in neonates of agricultural importance.

“…Feeding of colostrum to piglets (Burrin et al, 1992) or calves (Schams and Einspanier, 1991) resulted in two-to fourfold higher serum insulin concentrations compared to milk-fed animals; however, whether this difference arose from absorption of colostral insulin or enhanced endogenous secretion of insulin by colostrum-fed animals remains equivocal. Although early studies showed that oral administration of pharmacological levels of insulin to the piglet (Asplund et al, 1962) or calf (Pierce et al, 1964) resulted in hypoglycemia, more recent studies in which insulin was added to milk replacer (Shulman, 1990) or given orally immediately prior to feeding colostrum (Grü tter and Blum, 1991) did not effect serum insulin or glucose concentrations. Recent support for endogenous production as the major source of serum insulin came from the observation that cpeptide excretion was higher in colostrum-fed than in milk-fed piglets (Burrin et al, 1995a).…”

Nutrient-Independent and Nutrient-Dependent Factors Stimulate Protein Synthesis in Colostrum-Fed Newborn Pigs

“…A number of studies also have demonstrated that both insulin (12,13) and IGF-I (14, 15), administered either orally or parenterally to neonatal animals, can stimulate gastrointestinal tissue growth and maturation. Furthermore, orally administered insulin (16) and IGF-I (17) appears to be absorbed intact from the neonatal intestine and thus could potentially affect peripheral tissues. Therefore, we hypothesized that insulin and IGF-I may mediate the rapid stimulation of protein synthesis in both colostrum-and milk-fed newborn pigs.…”