Dietary supplementation with a microencapsulated complex of thymol, carvacrol, and cinnamaldehyde improves intestinal barrier function in weaning piglets

Abstract

BACKGROUND The authors previously prepared a microencapsulated complex of thymol, carvacrol, and cinnamaldehyde (MEEO). This study aimed to evaluate the effect of MEEO on the intestinal mucosal barrier and homeostasis in weaning piglets. A comparison of the effect of MEEO versus chlortetracycline (CTC) was performed in this study. RESULTS Piglets were divided into three groups – control (Con), MEEO, and CTC groups – and raised for 28 days. The results showed that MEEO significantly elevated the ratio of the villus height and the crypt depth in the jejunum and decreased the crypt depth in the ileum compared with the other groups (P < 0.05); it also upregulated the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression of tight junction protein in the small intestine. Compared with the Con group, MEEO increased the concentration of secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), cathelicidin antimicrobial peptides (CAMP), and interleukin 10 (IL‐10), while decreasing the interleukin 1 beta (IL‐1β) concentration in both jejunal and ileal mucosa (P < 0.05). The mRNA expression of jejunal mucosal MUC1 and ileal mucosal MUC2 was increased in the MEEO group compared with the other groups (P < 0.05). Intestinal microbial analysis showed that dietary treatment had little impact on the ileal microbial structure. A significant rise in the genus Lactobacillus was, however, found in the MEEO group. There is a positive correlation between the Lactobacillus and sIgA, and between the Lactobacillus and CAMP, indicating that an improvement in the mucosal barrier function by the addition of MEEO may be associated with the proliferation of Lactobacillus. CONCLUSION Dietary supplementation with MEEO improves intestinal barrier function in weaning piglets, the effect of which was superior to CTC. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry.

The effects of essential oil from Lippia origanoides and herbal betaine on performance, intestinal integrity, bone mineralization and meat quality in broiler chickens subjected to cyclic heat stress

“…Thymol improves duodenal villi shape and function ( Mo et al, 2023 ). Thymol protects duodenal villi from oxidative stress ( He et al, 2017 ).…”

Microencapsulated essential oils alleviate diarrhea in weaned piglets by modulating the intestinal microbial barrier as well as not inducing antibiotic resistance: a field research

“…Immediately following the last blood collection on day 28, two piglets per replicate were euthanized. The duodenum, middle jejunum and middle ileum were stored in 4% formaldehyde while the jejunum mucosa, ileum mucosa and colonic content were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at −80°C for further analysis as previously described (18). Additionally, we collected samples from the colonic contents for bacterial culture using sterile swabs, and preserved in 4°C.…”

“…Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stained slides were made as previously described (18) and observed and photographed using a slide scanning system (3D Histech, Hungary). For analysis, 10 villi and crypts were randomly selected in each photo to measure villus height (VH) and crypt depth (CD), and to calculate the villus height to crypt depth ratio (VH/CD).…”

“…The CT scores for these genes were normalized to the internal reference gene GAPDH (Supplementary Table S1). RNA extraction of homogenized tissues and reverse transcription and qualification methods were performed as previously described (18). Total protein, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) and intestinal trefoil factor (ITF) levels in the jejunum and ileum mucosa were quantified using a commercial BCA reagent kit (Sangon Biotech, China) and ELISA kits (Jiangsu Meimian Industry, China).…”

“…Previous studies have demonstrated that microencapsulated essential oils (MEO) consisting of carvacrol, thymol and cinnamaldehyde reduce the occurrence of diarrhea after weaning and promote growth performance. These benefits were observed utilizing piglets fed individually in separate experimental replicates and this protocol represented an incomplete growth environment (18). The current study was performed to expand the results of that study using increased sample sizes and explored MEO influences on piglet intestinal barrier function using a field research.…”