High dosage of zinc modulates T-cells in a time-dependent manner within porcine gut-associated lymphatic tissue.

Zn serves as a powerful feed additive to reduce post-weaning diarrhoea in pigs. However, the mechanisms responsible for Zn-associated effects on the adaptive immune responses following feeding of a very high dosage of Zn remain elusive. In this study, we examined the T-cell response in gut-associated lymphatic tissues of seventy-two weaned piglets. Piglets received diets with 57 mg Zn/kg (low Zn concentration, LZn), 164 mg Zn/kg (medium Zn concentration, MZn) or 2425 mg Zn/kg (high Zn concentration, HZn) mg Zn/kg feed for 1, 2 or 4 weeks. We observed that feeding the HZn diet for 1 week increased the level of activated T-helper cells (CD4+ and CD8α dim) compared with feeding MZn and LZn (P<0·05). In addition, we observed higher transcript amounts of interferon γ and T-box 21 (TBET) in the HZn group compared with the MZn and LZn groups (P<0·05). A gene set enrichment analysis revealed an over-representation of genes associated with 'cytokine signalling in immune system'. Remarkably, feeding of a very high Zn dosage led to a switch in the immune response after 2 weeks. We detected higher relative cell counts of CD4+CD25high regulatory T-helper cells (P<0·05) and a higher expression of forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) transcripts (P<0·05). After 4 weeks of feeding a high-dosage Zn diet, the relative CD4+ T-cell count (P<0·05) and the relative CD8ß + T-cell count (P<0·1) were reduced compared with the MZn group. We hypothesise that after 1 week the cellular T-helper 1 response is switched on and after 2 weeks it is switched off, leading to decreased numbers of T-cells.

Feeding a high dosage of zinc oxide affects suppressor of cytokine gene expression in Salmonella Typhimurium infected piglets.

Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins play an important role in the regulation of the immune response by inhibiting cytokines. Here we investigated the effects of zinc oxide fed at three different dosages (LZN=57ppm, MZN=167ppm, HZN=2425ppm) to weaned piglets that were or were not orally infected with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium DT 104. We detected higher expression of SOCS3 six days after weaning for all analyzed piglets, regardless of the infection or the zinc feeding, suggesting a stress induced immune response. Whereas, SOCS1 showed only higher transcript amounts in S. Typhimurium infected piglets, especially the LZN group. This might indicate an infection regulating effect of zinc oxide in the infection model. After 42days of infection, the expression of SOCS2, SOCS4, and SOCS7 was increased only in animals fed the highest concentrations of zinc oxide, while non-infected piglets at the age of 56days showed no regulation for these genes. The up-regulation of SOCS genes in the mesenteric lymph nodes of piglets fed a diet with a very high concentration of zinc over 6 weeks suggests that such treatments may impair the immune response.