Intestinal villi structure during the development of pig and wild boar crossbreed neonates ☆ T. Skrzypek a , J.L. Valverde Piedra b , H. Skrzypek a, ⁎ , W. Kazimierczak a , S. Szymańczyk b , M. Pawłowska b , R. Zabielski c a Department of Zoology and Invertebrate Ecology, Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Kraśnicka 102, 20–718 Lublin, Poland b Department of Biochemistry and Animal Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Agriculture University in Lublin, Lublin, Poland c Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw Agricultural University, Warsaw, Poland Abstract Modification in mucosa structure can be used to evaluate intestinal function during the development. Our study aimed to compare the postnatal gut mucosa structure in Polish landrace/Pietrain (PP) and Duroc/Hampshire/wild boar (DHW) crossbreed piglets using scanning electron microscopy. Small intestinal mucosa showed a number of changes characteristic for PP and DHW pigs involving the modification of villi shape, disappearance of transversal furrows, formation of extrusion zones and presence of apoptotic cell packets. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Intestinal mucosa; Postnatal development; Scanning electron microscopy 1. Introduction The digestive function of the small intestine is closely related to mucosa architecture, in particular to the villi density, shape and size. During the postnatal develop- ment this architecture changes markedly due to intensive remodeling of the epithelium (for references see: Trahair and Sangild, 2004; Zabielski et al., 2005). These changes are reflected in the structure of the crypt stem cells and the extrusion zone located on the villi top. In the neonatal pigs it also depends on the number of apoptotic cell packets present on the whole length of the villi (Skrzypek et al., 2005; Godlewski et al., 2005). Present study aimed to investigate the postnatal development of small intestinal mucosa architecture in pigs of different crossbreed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). 2. Material, methods, techniques The experimental protocol was approved by the Local Ethical Committee. Studies were carried out on total 16 crossbreed piglets, Polish landrace/Pietrain (PP, n = 8), and Duroc/Hampshire/wild boar (DHW, n = 8; Depart- ment of Breeding and Technology of Pig Production, Agricultural University in Lublin, Poland), born on time and housed in standard farming conditions. Piglets were Livestock Science 109 (2007) 38 – 41 www.elsevier.com/locate/livsci ☆ This paper is part of the special issue entitled “Digestive Physiology in Pigs” guest edited by José Adalberto Fernández, Mette Skou Hedemann, Bent Borg, Jensen, Henry Jørgensen, Knud Erik Bach Knudsen and Helle Nygaard Lærke. ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +48 814454644. E-mail address: skrzypek@kul.lublin.pl (H. Skrzypek). 1871-1413/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.livsci.2007.01.040