Table 3.
Histomorphometric quantity parameters of the duodenum of male (m) and female (f) mink offspring, born from multiparous and primiparous dams, supplemented with HMB and/or AKG during the gestational period.
| Mother | Primiparous | Multiparous | SEM | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diet | C | HMB | AKG | HMB + AKG | C | HMB | AKG | HMB + AKG | |||||||||
| Sex | m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | m | f | |
| Total number of crypts/mm | 15.7 | 19.5 | 17.9 | 15.8 | 17.0 | 15.9 | 18.8 | 15.4 | 17.2 | 11.6 b | 18.3 | 18.1 a | 20.3 | 18.5 a | 16.3 | 16.4 a | 0.3 |
| Number of open crypts/mm | 7.9 | 12.3 | 8.4 | 9.6 | 9.6 | 9.0 | 8.7 | 8.9 | 12.6 ab | 7.6 | 10.3 b | 7.1 | 18.7 a | 10.5 | 10.2 b | 6.7 | 0.4 |
| Number of closed crypts/mm | 7.8 | 7.3 | 9.5 | 6.2 | 7.4 | 6.9 | 8.7 | 6.5 | 4.6 cb | 4.0 b | 7.9 a | 11.0a | 1.6 c | 8.0 a | 5.7 ab | 9.7 a | 0.3 |
| Number of undamaged villi/mm | 7.9 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 8.1 | 8.1 | 8.3 | 6.9 | 6.9 | 9.4 ab | 10.3 | 6.9 b | 8.6 | 11.3 a | 7.6 | 8.9 ab | 8.9 | 0.2 |
| Number of damaged villi/mm | 1.0 | 0.4 ab | 1.0 | 1.0 a | 0.2 | 0.3 b | 0.7 | 0.2 b | 2.7 a | 2.4 | 0.5 b | 2.6 | 0.8 b | 2.6 | 0.5 b | 2.9 | 0.1 |
| Total number of villi/mm | 8.9 | 8.3 a | 8.0 | 9.1 a | 8.3 | 8.6 a | 7.5 | 6.6 b | 12.1 a | 12.7 | 7.4 b | 11.3 | 12.1 a | 10.5 | 9.4 b | 11.8 | 0.2 |
| Number of crypts to villi/mm ratio | 1.76 b | 2.32 a | 2.27 a | 1.76 b | 2.08 ab | 1.87 b | 2.25 a | 2.17 a | 1.41 b | 1.02 c | 2.48 a | 1.57 ab | 1.68 b | 1.78 a | 1.79 b | 1.39 b | 0.04 |
| Number of enterocytes/mm | 117.5 | 164.3 ab | 159.5 | 167.2ab | 145.9 | 198.8 a | 148.4 | 139.5 b | 122.1 b | 143.7 a | 117.1 b | 93.3 b | 92.1 b | 128.6 ab | 201.8 a | 167.3 a | 3.9 |
| Number of Goblet cells/mm | 47.6 a | 14.8 b | 18.8 b | 31.6 a | 14.7 b | 20.8 b | 29.9 ab | 17.3 b | 21.8 b | 17.5 ab | 12.4 b | 12.5 b | 50.3 a | 25.6 a | 29.5 b | 18.4 ab | 1.2 |
| Enterocytes to Goblet cells ratio | 4.1c | 10.5 a | 9.5 ab | 6.4 b | 10.5 a | 10.6 a | 6.3 bc | 8.4 ab | 6.7 b | 8.7 ab | 11.2 a | 9.9 a | 2.7 c | 5.6 b | 7.7 b | 8.7 ab | 0.6 |
Data are presented as means; SEM, standard error of the mean; m, male offspring; f, female offspring; C, control group; HMB, β-hydroxy-β-methylbutyrate at a daily dose of 0.02 g/kg of body weight; AKG, alpha-ketoglutaric acid at a daily dose of 0.4 g/kg of body weight; n = 12 in each group; different superscript or subscript letters in rows relating to either the primiparous or multiparous dams refers to a significant difference between males in the various treatment groups or females in the various treatment groups, respectively; (p < 0.05).