{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:15:57Z","timestamp":1760058957304,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746748800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","award":["2022YFF1100102","2022YFF1100104"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2022YFF1100102","2022YFF1100104"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) commonly occurs in pigs and poses a significant challenge to the swine industry. This study investigated the effect of fermented milk on growth performance and intestinal health in IUGR-affected piglets. A total of 24 28-day-old weaned piglets with IUGR were randomly assigned to a corn-soybean basal diet (control) or a basal diet mixed with fermented milk (3:1 w\/v, treatment). The results showed that fermented milk increased the average daily gain and decreased the feed-to-gain ratio (p &lt; 0.05). Fermented milk increased the villus height in the duodenum and decreased the jejunal crypt depth (p &lt; 0.05). Pigs in the treatment showed higher activities of lipase, \u03b1-amylase, and sucrase in the duodenum, along with an elevation in jejunal sucrase activity (p &lt; 0.05). The ileal glutathione concentration was increased by the treatment (p &lt; 0.05). Moreover, fermented milk upregulated the protein expression of occludin and claudin-3 while decreasing the gene expression of interleukin 1 beta, interleukin 6, and tumor necrosis factor \u03b1lpha in the jejunum (p &lt; 0.05). Collectively, these results indicate that dietary supplementation with fermented milk significantly improved growth performance through the enhancement of intestinal functions in IUGR piglets, highlighting the potential of fermented milk as a nutritional strategy to improve postnatal growth in IUGR piglets.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani15101367","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]],"date-time":"2025-05-09T06:18:51Z","timestamp":1746771531000},"page":"1367","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Dietary Supplementation with Fermented Milk Improves Growth Performance and Intestinal Functions in Intrauterine Growth-Restricted Piglets"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4108-9561","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Qing","family":"Yang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lu","family":"Cui","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"},{"name":"Tangshan Animal Husbandry Technology and Promotion Station, Tangshan 063000, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yang","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ying","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4471-0154","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zhaolai","family":"Dai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Zhenlong","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"State Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition and Feeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2316","DOI":"10.2527\/jas.2006-156","article-title":"Board-invited review: Intrauterine growth retardation: Implications for the animal sciences","volume":"84","author":"Wu","year":"2006","journal-title":"J. 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