Formula diet alters small intestine morphology, microbial abundance and reduces VE-cadherin and IL-10 expression in neonatal porcine model

Background Breastfeeding is associated with a variety of positive health outcomes in children and is recommended exclusively for the first 6 months of life; however, 50–70 % of infants in the US are formula-fed. To test the hypothesis that immune system development and function in neonates and infants are significantly influenced by diet, 2-day old piglets were fed soy or milk formula (n = 6/group/gender) until day 21 and compared to a sow-fed group (n = 6/gender). Methods Histomorphometric analyses of ileum, jejunum and Peyer’s patches were carried out, to determine the inflammation status, mRNA and protein expression of pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory and growth-related chemokines and cytokines. Results In formula-fed animals, increases in ileum and jejunum villus height and crypt depth were observed in comparison to sow-fed animals (jejunum, p