Early postnatal kinetics of colostral immunoglobulin G absorption in fed and fasted piglets and developmental expression of the intestinal immunoglobulin G receptor1

The transport of IgG across the epithelial barrier and into the circulation is achieved in part by the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), and this provides passive immunity to the neonate. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of time and feeding state on IgG absorption, intestinal morphology, and expression of IgG receptors in the first 24 h postbirth. Twenty newborn pigs were obtained immediately after birth and fitted with umbilical arterial catheters. Colostrum was manually collected from 12 lactating sows and centrifuged to produce defatted colostrum. Piglets were orally gavaged with 32 mL defatted colostrum per kilogram of BW (given in 2 doses 1 h apart) either at birth (0 h) or at 12 h postbirth under either fed (milk replacer) or fasted (saline solution) condition (n = 5 per treatment). A fifth reference group (n = 5) was euthanized at birth. Blood was collected every hour for the first 2 h immediately after the catheter was inserted and then every 4 h until 12 h (i.e., 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 h) for the treatment in which the defatted colostrum was given right after birth. For the treatment gavaged at 12 h postbirth, the sampling schedule was at 12, 13, 14, 16, 20, and 24 h. At 12 h postgavage, pigs were euthanized and jejunum tissues were collected for measurement of villi height, width, crypt depth, and gene expression of FcRn and β2-microglobulin (β2M) via reverse transcription PCR. Pig serum IgG concentration was determined by radial immunodiffusion. Data were analyzed according to a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments (0 h-fed, 0 h-fasted, 12 h-fed, and 12 h-fasted). There was no interaction between the time (age) of offering defatted colostrum (0 vs. 12 h) and nutritional state (fed vs. fasted) for any of the measurements, and there were no differences between fed and fasted pigs. Serum IgG concentrations increased progressively with time. Piglets offered defatted colostrum at 0 h had greater (P < 0.05) overall IgG absorption and greater (P < 0.05) villi height than those offered defatted colostrum at 12 h postbirth. Abundance of mRNA of FcRn and β2M were normalized to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Abundance of FcRn transcript was lower (P = 0.006) in pigs euthanized at birth compared with those euthanized at 12 h of age. In conclusion, the effects of delayed offering of defatted colostrum and age-dependent changes in IgG receptor were modest over the first 24 h of life.