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Updated: Mar 28, 2026
Recapitulating Suckling-to-Weaning Transition In Vitro using Fetal Intestinal Organoids
Published on: November 15, 2019
Weaning Markedly Affects Transcriptome Profiles and Peyer's Patch Development in Piglet Ileum
Ryo Inoue1, Takamitsu Tsukahara2, Masako Nakatani3
1Laboratory of Animal Science, Kyoto Prefectural University , Kyoto , Japan ; Gut Immunology Group, Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen , Aberdeen , UK.
Insights
Early weaning significantly impacts piglet gut development, particularly Peyer
Area of Science:
- Animal Science
- Immunology
- Genomics
Background:
- Postnatal gut development is crucial for piglet health and immunity.
- Weaning is a critical transition period that can significantly alter gut physiology and immune function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of postnatal development and weaning on the piglet ileal mucosa transcriptome.
- To identify key genes and pathways involved in gut development and immune response.
Main Methods:
- Transcriptome analysis of ileal mucosa from piglets aged 14 to 35 days.
- Comparison of gene expression profiles between suckling and weaned piglets.
- Analysis of biological pathways, including leukocyte chemotaxis and immunity-related pathways.
Main Results:
- Intensive gut development occurs between 14 and 21 postnatal days, with a higher number of differentially expressed genes.
- Leukocyte chemotaxis pathway is significantly affected, showing different regulation in suckling versus weaned piglets.
- Weaning negatively impacts acquired immunity pathways but positively affects innate immunity pathways.
- Genes CXCL13, SLA-DOA, ICAM1, VAV1, and VCAM1, involved in leukocyte chemotaxis, declined postweaning and correlated with smaller Peyer's patches (PP).
- Early weaning (14 days) caused irreversible adverse effects on PP development.
Conclusions:
- The first 14-21 days are critical for piglet gut development.
- Leukocyte chemotaxis genes are important for Peyer's patches development and are sensitive to weaning stress.
- Early weaning significantly impairs gut immune development, with long-lasting consequences on Peyer's patches size and function.
Abstract:
Transcriptome analyses were conducted on the ileal mucosa of 14- to 35-day-old piglets to investigate postnatal gut development during suckling and postweaning. The transcriptome profiles of 14-day-old suckling piglets showed a considerably higher number of differentially expressed genes than did those of 21-, 28-, and 35-day olds, indicating an intensive gut development during the first 14-21 postnatal days. In addition, the analysis of biological pathways indicated that Chemotaxis Leucocyte chemotaxis was the most significantly affected pathway in suckling piglets between 14 and 21 days of age. Weaning negatively affected pathways associated with acquired immunity, but positively affected those associated with innate immunity. Interestingly, pathway Chemotaxis Leucocyte chemotaxis was found positively affected when comparing 14- and 21-day-old suckling piglets, but negatively affected in 28-day-old piglets weaned at 21 days of age, when compared with 28-day-old suckling piglets. Genes CXCL13, SLA-DOA (MHC class II), ICAM1, VAV1, and VCAM1 were involved in the pathway Chemotaxis Leukocyte chemotaxis and they were found to significantly change between 14- and 21-day-old suckling piglets and between groups of suckling and weaned piglets. The expression of these genes significantly declined after weaning at 14, 21, and 28 days of age. This decline indicated that CXCL13, SLA-DOA, ICAM1, VAV1, and VCAM1 may be involved in the development of Peyer's patches (PP) because lower gene expression clearly corresponded with smaller areas of PP in the ileal mucosa of piglets. Moreover, weaning piglets prior to a period of intensive gut development, i.e., 14 days of age, caused significant adverse effects on the size of PP, which were not reverted even 14 days postweaning.
