Intestinal Injury and Nutritional Regulation in Weaning Piglets

Early weaning can cause intestinal injury, diarrhea and even death in piglets, leading to huge economic losses in swine production.Therefore, elucidating the mechanisms underlying weaning-induced intestinal injury is of great importance for effectively alleviating such injury in early-weaned piglets and improving their health and production performance.After weaning, the loss of maternal antibody protection disrupts the intestinal immune system.An increase in intestinal pH and incomplete nutrient digestion following weaning promote the overgrowth of harmful bacteria, resulting in intestinal microbial dysbiosis.Additionally, weaning stress disrupts the intestinal redox balance, causing an abnormal increase in reactive oxygen and subsequently enhancing apoptosis of intestinal epithelial cells.The appropriate use of feed additives can help maintain intestinal barrier integrity and microbial homeostasis in piglets.Piglets have a high protein requirement for growth; however, high-protein diets with excessive protein can cause intestinal dysfunction.Therefore, appropriately reducing dietary protein levels while supplementing with crystalline amino acids may be an effective strategy to alleviate intestinal damage in weaned piglets.Dietary fiber is a nutrient that can improve intestinal function in weaned piglets, primarily by promoting the production of short-chain fatty acids and maintaining microbial homeostasis.Additionally, feed processing can effectively enhance nutrient digestibility and utilization, thereby mitigating intestinal injury caused by solid feed.Here, we synthesize the mechanisms by which weaning induces intestinal injury in piglets and the mitigating effects of various nutritional interventions, aiming to provide a theoretical foundation and practical references for alleviating and treating weaning-associated intestinal damage in piglets.