Background: The small intestine plays a crucial role in animals in maintaining homeostasis as well as a series of physiological events such as nutrient uptake and immune function to improve productivity. Research on intestinal organoids has recently garnered interest, aiming to study various functions of the intestinal epithelium as a potential alternative to an in vivo system. These technologies have created new possibilities and opportunities for substituting animals for testing with an in vitro model. Methods: Here, we report the establishment and characterisation of intestinal organoids derived from jejunum tissues of adult pigs. Intestinal crypts, including intestinal stem cells from the jejunum tissue of adult pigs (10 months old), were sequentially isolated and cultivated over several passages without losing their proliferation and differentiation using the scaffold-based and three-dimensional method, which indicated the recapitulating capacity. Results: Porcine jejunum-derived intestinal organoids showed the specific expression of several genes related to intestinal stem cells and the epithelium. Furthermore, they showed high permeability when exposed to FITC-dextran 4 kDa, representing a barrier function similar to that of in vivo tissues. Collectively, these results demonstrate the efficient cultivation and characteristics of porcine jejunum-derived intestinal organoids. Conclusions: In this study, using a 3D culture system, we successfully established porcine jejunum-derived intestinal organoids. They show potential for various applications, such as for nutrient absorption as an in vitro model of the intestinal epithelium fused with organ-on-a-chip technology to improve productivity in animal biotechnology in future studies.

Effect of Gojanghwan on intestinal function was investigated in rabbit, making use of its water extract. Gojanghwan water extract(GW) made the motility and tension of ileum strips isolated from rabbit decreased. While it did not affect on the acetylcholine action, GW exhibited the significant inhibition on the actions of serotonin and histamin to ileum strips. In the longitudinal muscle of colon, GW suppressed the motility, but did not influenced significantly on the tension, and in the circular muscle of colon, GW showed the inhibitory effect on the motility and tension. GW inhibited markedly the actions(motility and tension) induced by acetylcholine, serotonin and histamine in the longitudinal and circular muscles of colon. According to the above results suggest that GW inhibited the intestinal function in rabbit, this inhibition was related to the various mechanism being induced by responses on the receptor of muscarine, serotonin and histamine. 

Background : Bamboo fiber contains 97% of dietary insoluble fiber from mature bamboo shoots. Bamboo contains phytosterols and a high amount of fiber which can be labelled as nutraceuticals or natural medicines that are attracting attention from the aspect of health. This study was conducted for the production of dietary fiber from Sinoarundinaria nigra, S (S. nigra) shoots barks by using α-amylase, alcalase, glucoamylase or Viscozyme and improvement of Large intestinal function in rats. Methods and Results : Yields of enzymatic degradation were 80.5% (322 g/400g) and the dietary fiver content of the enzyme digest was 69.7%. Sprague-Dawley rats were fed on diet containing 100 ㎎/㎏ and 200 ㎎/㎏ S. nigra dietary fibers [dietary fiver of bamboo shoots barks (SNDFB)] for one weeks. As a result of weighing of the fecal pellets, loperamide alone group showed a significant decrease compared with the control group, and it was significantly increased in test group (200 ㎎/㎏-SNDFB) compared to loperamide alone group. In addition, the measurement of gastrointestinal charcoal transit ratio in rats, loperamide alone group showed a significant decrease compared with the control group, and it was significantly increased in all the test substance groups compared to loperamide alone group. The number of remnant fecal pellets in the colon after dissection was significantly increased in the loperamide alone group compared to the control group, and was significantly decreased in the test substance groups compared to loperamide alone group. Conclusion : These results suggest that dietary fiber isolated from S. nigra has a marked effect on the improvement of bowel function in rats with loperamide (4 ㎎/㎏)-induced constipation.