Intestinal development and fatty acid binding protein activity of newborn pigs fed colostrum or milk

Newborn pigs (n = 20) were gavage-fed sow's colostrum, defatted colostrum, milk, defatted milk or a 5% lactose solution over 24 h in order to evaluate effects on growth and functional differentiation of small intestine. Colostrum-fed pigs had greater (p less than 0.01) mucosal mass in the proximal half of the small intestine than did the milk- or lactose-fed groups. Total fatty acid binding protein (FABP) activity and FABP activity per mg DNA in proximal intestines of colostrum-fed pigs exceeded that for the lactose group. FABP activities (per g mucosa or mg soluble protein) were greater (p less than 0.01) in the proximal segments of small intestines of pigs fed whole versus the corresponding defatted secretion. These results indicate that the feeding of colostrum specifically augments perinatal intestinal growth and differentiation as manifested by increased cellular hypertrophy and FABP activity. Milk lipid and unidentified factor(s) enriched in colostrum are inducers of intestinal FABP activity.