2021 Volume 70 Issue 1 Pages 45-53
This study was to verify the effects of chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) on intestinal integrity, oxidative status, and inflammatory response in a heat-stressed rat model. A total of 24 male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 treatment: CON, the control group; HS, the heat stress group; HSC, the heat stress group with 200 mg/kg COS. Rats in the HS and HSC group exposed to a cyclical heat stress for 7 consecutive days. The CON and HS group provided basal diet, and the HSC group provided the same diet with 200 mg/kg COS. Compared with the HS group, rats in the HSC group had lower serum diamine oxidase and D-lactate acid level, higher villus height of jejunum and ileum, lower malondialdehyde (MDA) content in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum mucosa, higher glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), catalase (CAT) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) activity in duodenum mucosa, higher T-AOC activity in jejunum mucosa, and higher glutathione (GSH) level in ileum mucosa. Compared with the HS group, rats in the HSC group had higher interleukin-10 (IL-10) level, but lower tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum mucosa. These results indicated that COS may alleviate intestinal damage under heat stress condition, probably by modulating intestinal inflammatory response and oxidative status.