{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T04:33:06Z","timestamp":1787027586653,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768867200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["32573262"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32573262"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China for Youth","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["32302753"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32302753"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012246","name":"Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012246","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Animals"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is widely used to model immune stress in weaned piglets, but it does not fully replicate the pathophysiological alterations induced by live bacterial infection. This study therefore established an oral Salmonella enterica (SE) challenge model and systematically compared its effects with those of LPS to evaluate its potential as a complementary immune stress paradigm. Forty piglets were assigned to five groups: control (saline), LPS (intraperitoneal, 100 \u03bcg\/kg BW), and three SE groups receiving low-, middle-, or high-dose oral SE (1 \u00d7 108 CFU\/mL, 2 \u00d7 108 CFU\/mL, or 3 \u00d7 108 CFU\/mL in a 10 mL saline volume, respectively). Both LPS and SE significantly reduced average daily gain, while only SE challenge decreased colon length. A transient rectal temperature elevation occurred at 8 h in all challenged groups, persisting at 12 h in the LPS and high-dose SE groups. Serum cytokine analysis revealed that LPS induced early but transient interleukin-12 and tumor necrosis factor-\u03b1 elevation at 8 h, followed by sustained suppression of interferon-\u03b3, interleukin-6, and interleukin-8. In contrast, the middle-dose SE triggered robust increases in multiple pro-inflammatory cytokines at 24 h. Both challenges significantly reduced the CD4+\/CD8+ T cell ratios in blood and lymphoid organs and decreased intestinal interleukin-10 levels. SE infection produced more severe intestinal pathology, including dose-dependent villus perforations, microvillus disorganization, and mitochondrial cristae vacuolization, beyond the villus shortening and goblet cell reduction observed in both groups. While both LPS and SE induced immune stress and intestinal injury, SE infection caused more severe and comprehensive pathophysiological alterations. Oral administration of 2 \u00d7 109 CFU SE for 24 h established a physiologically relevant immune stress model that effectively mimics natural Salmonella infection in weaned piglets, providing a valuable tool for studying enteric diseases and evaluating interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ani16020311","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]],"date-time":"2026-01-20T11:27:58Z","timestamp":1768908478000},"page":"311","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Salmonella enterica as a Complementary Model to LPS for Immune Stress in Weaned Piglets: Systemic and Intestinal Alterations"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Li","family":"Dong","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"},{"name":"Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zhiyan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenxi","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Changwei","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Haoyang","family":"Yuan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jun","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hongrong","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lihuai","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Animal Science and Technology, College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, No. 48 of East Wenhui Road, Yangzhou 225009, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"556","article-title":"Effects of dietary energy and crude protein levels on growth performance, blood profiles, and nutrient digestibility in weaning pigs","volume":"32","author":"Fang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Asian-Australas. 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