Table 4.
Effect of dietary Tau supplementation during late gestation and lactation on the intestinal morphology of piglets.
| Items | 1 d of Post-Birth | p-value | 7 d of Post-Birth | p-value | 21 d of Post-Birth | p-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Con | Tau | Con | Tau | Con | Tau | ||||
| Villous height (µm) | |||||||||
| Duodenum | 249.10 ± 24.07 | 503.08 ± 12.29 | <0.001 | 584.95 ± 21.66 | 639.18 ± 21.96 | 0.101 | 403.74 ± 16.32 | 828.16 ± 34.66 | <0.001 |
| Jejunum | 238.36 ± 9.66 | 284.00 ± 15.19 | 0.048 | 358.39 ± 12.47 | 524.04 ± 25.65 | <0.001 | 469.16 ± 47.62 | 650.26 ± 28.57 | 0.007 |
| Ileum | 327.43 ± 9.60 | 397.12 ± 13.13 | 0.001 | 431.11 ± 29.72 | 453.31 ± 33.23 | 0.626 | 318.61 ± 12.22 | 467.21 ± 23.24 | <0.001 |
| Crypt depth (µm) | |||||||||
| Duodenum | 176.48 ± 10.08 | 180.74 ± 8.27 | 0.749 | 256.69 ± 16.86 | 197.45 ± 17.45 | 0.029 | 263.05 ± 15.78 | 241.80 ± 34.76 | 0.590 |
| Jejunum | 140.55 ± 8.09 | 163.08 ± 11.33 | 0.128 | 152.38 ± 12.31 | 133.00 ± 9.26 | 0.231 | 267.34 ± 38.45 | 180.46 ± 21.93 | 0.075 |
| Ileum | 124.55 ± 4.72 | 121.69 ± 4.07 | 0.653 | 198.62 ± 6.88 | 198.06 ± 10.54 | 0.965 | 263.05 ± 15.78 | 266.80 ± 16.40 | 0.871 |
| VCR | |||||||||
| Duodenum | 1.47 ± 0.21 | 2.81 ± 0.12 | <0.001 | 2.34 ± 0.16 | 3.55 ± 0.54 | 0.061 | 1.08 ± 0.07 | 2.39 ± 0.26 | 0.001 |
| Jejunum | 1.81 ± 0.11 | 1.77 ± 0.10 | 0.818 | 1.38 ± 0.06 | 1.99 ± 0.08 | <0.001 | 2.33 ± 0.43 | 3.40 ± 0.29 | 0.049 |
| Ileum | 2.66 ± 0.15 | 3.29 ± 0.17 | 0.014 | 2.18 ± 0.14 | 2.35 ± 0.23 | 0.529 | 1.25 ± 0.10 | 1.79 ± 0.13 | 0.005 |
Con, basal diets during gestation and lactation; Tau, basal diets supplemented with 1% taurine during gestation and lactation; VCR, villus height-to-crypt depth ratio.