Table 4.
Histomorphometric shape and absorption surface 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 | |
| The height of enterocytes (µm) | 22 c | 37 | 24 bc | 31 | 33 ab | 41 | 40 a | 38 | 31 ab | 37 | 36 a | 41 | 45 a | 41 | 20 b | 37 | 1.9 |
| Villi height (µm) | 1040 | 692 b | 894 | 1065 a | 1073 | 930 ab | 988 | 827 ab | 888 ab | 751 b | 1145 a | 990 a | 520 c | 946 a | 866 b | 819 ab | 32.6 |
| Villi width (µm) | 52 b | 68 | 66 ab | 63 | 77 a | 71 | 68 ab | 67 | 81 a | 85 | 68 ab | 65 | 50 b | 72 | 67 ab | 73 | 3.1 |
| Crypts width (µm) | 33 | 30 b | 37 | 31 ab | 35 | 33 ab | 36 | 36 a | 35 | 33 b | 35 | 37 a | 32 | 29 b | 34 | 32 b | 0.7 |
| Crypts depth (µm) | 167 | 118 b | 193 | 164 a | 173 | 152 ab | 182 | 141 ab | 366 a | 395 b | 162 b | 438 a | 153 b | 386 b | 130 b | 280 b | 19.1 |
| Villus/crypt ratio | 6.55 a | 5.83 | 4.76 b | 6.71 | 6.46 a | 6.31 | 5.49 ab | 5.80 | 2.59 c | 1.91 b | 7.31 a | 2.19 b | 3.38 c | 2.54 ab | 5.71 b | 2.98 a | 0.21 |
| Absorption surface (µm2) | 22.9 | 19.7 c | 22.9 | 30.9 a | 26.9 | 26.1 abc | 25.6 | 21.8 bc | 22.0 b | 18.9 c | 29.7 a | 25.3 ab | 11.9 c | 27.6 a | 23.5 ab | 22.2 bc | 1.1 |
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).