Resveratrol improves intestinal barrier function, alleviates mitochondrial dysfunction and induces mitophagy in diquat challenged piglets1

This study evaluated whether resveratrol can alleviate intestinal injury and enhance the mitochondrial function and the mitophagy level in diquat induced oxidative stress of piglets. Twenty-four 35 day old piglets were randomly allocated to four groups: (1) nonchallenged control; (2) control + 100 mg kg-1 resveratrol diet; (3) diquat-treated control and (4) diquat + 100 mg kg-1 resveratrol diet. At the beginning of the experiment, the piglets were injected with diquat or saline (10 mg per kg bodyweight). On day 14, the piglets were killed to obtain the jejuna segments. The results showed that resveratrol increased (P < 0.05) the total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and decreased (P < 0.05) the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in the jejunal mucosa, in comparison with the diquat group. Resveratrol improved (P < 0.05) the intestinal barrier function, as indicated by the increased transepithelial electrical resistance and the decreased paracellular permeability of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran 4 kDa in the jejunum. Moreover, resveratrol prevented (P < 0.05) the diquat induced decline of occludin, claudin-1 and ZO-1 levels in the jejunal mucosa. Resveratrol ameliorated mitochondria swelling, vacuolation and cracked cristae induced by diquat. Resveratrol decreased (P < 0.05) the ROS generation and increased (P < 0.05) the membrane potential of intestinal mitochondria, the content of mitochondrial DNA and the activity of mitochondrial complexes I-IV in the jejunum. Finally, resveratrol enhanced (P < 0.05) the level of PTEN induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1) and Parkin in intestinal mitochondria; meanwhile it increased (P < 0.05) the LC3-II/LC3-I ratio in the jejunum. These data indicate that resveratrol is effective in protecting the intestinal barrier, improving the redox status, alleviating mitochondrial damage and inducing mitophagy in piglets challenged with diquat.