Table 5.
Histomorphometric thickness parameters of the jejunum of male and female 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 | |
| Thickness of the mucosa (µm) | 1135 | 1141 a | 1226 | 1002 b | 1254 | 1135 ab | 1131 | 1142 a | 1187 b | 1010 bc | 1273 a | 1120 ab | 1208 b | 1219 a | 1002 b | 910 c | 11.9 |
| Thickness of the submucosa (µm) | 84 | 120 a | 83 | 77 c | 101 | 109 ab | 94 | 82 bc | 109 ab | 94 | 93 b | 93 | 126 a | 109 | 92 b | 110 | 1.9 |
| Thickness of the inner muscle layer (µm) | 38 | 56 a | 36 | 35 b | 40 | 58 a | 32 | 33 b | 60 a | 29 bc | 41 b | 40 b | 28 b | 57 a | 33 b | 22 c | 1.2 |
| Thickness of the outer muscle layer (µm) | 193 | 171 b | 150 | 128 b | 155 | 248 a | 173 | 139 b | 153 ab | 122 b | 176 a | 140 b | 115 b | 222 a | 165 a | 119 b | 4.2 |
| Total thickness of muscularis (µm) | 232 | 263 a | 187 | 165 b | 196 | 309 a | 200 | 175 b | 215 a | 154 b | 217 a | 181 b | 145 b | 280 a | 199 a | 145 b | 5.0 |
| Muscle to mucosa ratio | 0.20 | 0.21 ab | 0.15 | 0.17 b | 0.16 | 0.28 a | 0.19 | 0.16 b | 0.18 a | 0.15 b | 0.17 a | 0.17 b | 0.12 b | 0.24 a | 0.20 a | 0.16 b | 0.01 |
| Submucosa to mucosa ratio | 0.07 | 0.09 a | 0.07 | 0.08 ab | 0.08 | 0.10 a | 0.08 | 0.07 b | 0.09 ab | 0.09 b | 0.07 b | 0.08 b | 0.11 a | 0.09 b | 0.10 ab | 0.13 a | 0.002 |
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).