Effects of Coated Cysteamine on Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Weaned Pigs

This study aimed to explore the effects of dietary coated cysteamine on oxidative stress and inflammation in diquat-induced weaning pigs. Twenty-four pigs were randomly assigned to three dietary groups with eight replicates: the control (fed base diet), diquat (fed base diet), and coated cysteamine + diquat groups (fed 80 mg/kg cysteamine). The experiment was conducted for 21 d, and consisted of a pre-starter period (14 d) and a starter period (7 d). Coated cysteamine treatment significantly increased (<i>p</i> < 0.05) the final weight and average daily gain (ADG) in pigs. The contents of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), immunoglobulin G (IgG), serine (Ser), and isoleucine (Ile) were elevated (<i>p</i> < 0.05) while the contents of albumin (ALB) and aspartic acid (Asp) were reduced (<i>p</i> < 0.05) in the serum after coated cysteamine supplementation. Coated cysteamine supplementation resulted in greater (<i>p</i> < 0.05) serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, the expression of interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNA in the colon, and the CuSOD mRNA expression in the jejunum (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and colon (<i>p</i> = 0.073). Coated cysteamine supplementation showed an increasing trend in villus height (<i>p</i> = 0.060), villus height/crypt depth (V/C) (<i>p</i> = 0.056), the expression levels of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) mRNA (<i>p</i> = 0.061), and Occludin mRNA (<i>p</i> = 0.074) in the jejunum. In summary, dietary supplementation with coated cysteamine improves the intestinal barrier function of the jejunum by increasing the immunoglobulin content and the relative expression of intestinal immune factor mRNA in pigs while alleviating oxidative stress and inflammatory reactions caused by diquat.