Effects of Glucagon-like Peptide-2 on Morphology, Proliferation and Enzyme Activity of Intestinal Enterocyte Cells of Weaned Piglets In vitro

This study was conducted according to the single-factor design principle to investigate in vitro the effects of different glucagon-like peptide-2 (GLP-2) concentrations (0, $1{\times}10^{-11}$, $1{\times}10^{-10}$, $1{\times}10^{-9}$, $1{\times}10^{-8}$ and $1{\times}10^{-7}$ mol/L) on the morphology, proliferation and enzyme activity of intestinal enterocyte cells of 28-d-old weaned piglets. These cells were primary cultured in 4 pieces of 24-well cell culture plate. After having been grown for 48 h in culture media with hGLP-2, the ileal enterocyte cells of 28-d-old weaned piglets exhibited the typical characteristics of simple columnar epithelium. Compared with the control groups, the quantities of treated cells significantly increased (p<0.05) and their corresponding absorption values in 540 nm (MTT OD) also significantly increased (p<0.01). Likewise, lactic acid concentration, total protein content and protein retention significantly increased (p<0.05). $Na^{+}$, $K^{+}$-ATP enzyme activity was more active (p<0.05), although the activity of alkaline phosphatase, lactic acid dehydrogenase and creatine phosphokinase in culture media significantly decreased (p<0.01). To summarize, the results indicated that GLP-2 in vitro is capable of promoting the proliferation of intestinal enterocyte cells of 28-d weaned piglets, restraining their apoptosis and maintaining the integrity of their morphology.