Piglets are particularly susceptible to oxidative stress, which causes inferior growth performance and intestinal damage. Squalene (SQ), a natural bioactive substance enriched in shark liver oil, shows excellent antioxidant properties and can currently be obtained at a low cost from deodorizer distillate during the production of plant oil. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of plant-derived SQ supplementation on the growth performance of piglets and explore the beneficial roles of SQ against oxidative stress and intestinal injury in diquat-challenged piglets. Forty piglets were randomly divided into five groups and fed a basal diet supplemented with SQ at 0, 500, 1000, or 2000 mg/kg for 5 weeks. Acute oxidative stress was induced in the piglets with diquat (10 mg/kg BW) at the fourth week of the experiment, followed by a 7-d recovery period. Results showed that before the diquat challenge, SQ supplementation significantly improved growth performance (average daily gain and feed conversion ratio) and serum antioxidant status, and after the diquat challenge, SQ supplementation significantly mitigated diquat-induced growth arrest, intestinal villous atrophy, intestinal epithelial cell apoptosis, intestinal hyperpermeability, and deficiency of intestinal epithelial tight junction proteins (zonula occludens-1, occludin, and claudin-3). Under oxidative stress induced by diquat, SQ supplementation consistently improved the antioxidant status of the small intestine, liver, and muscle. In vitro, SQ was shown to alleviate hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂)-induced increase of the levels of intracellular reactive oxygen species and apoptosis of porcine intestinal epithelial cells. Taken together, SQ supplementation improves growth performance and effectively alleviates acute oxidative stress-induced growth retardation and intestinal injury via improving antioxidant capacity in piglets. Our findings may provide an efficient strategy for alleviating oxidative stress-induced inferior growth performance and intestinal damage in piglets.

仔猪特别容易受到氧化应激的影响，从而导致生长性能下降和肠道损伤。角鲨烯（SQ）是鲨鱼肝油中富含的天然生物活性物质，具有优异的抗氧化性能，目前可以从植物油生产过程中的除臭馏出物中以低成本获得。本研究旨在评估植物源性 SQ 补充剂对仔猪生长性能的影响，并探讨 SQ 对敌草快挑战仔猪的氧化应激和肠道损伤的有益作用。将 40 头仔猪随机分为 5 组，饲喂添加 0、500、1000 或 2000 mg/kg SQ 的基础日粮，持续 5 周。在实验的第四周，用敌草快（10 mg/kg BW）在仔猪中诱导急性氧化应激，然后是 7 天的恢复期。结果表明，敌草快攻击前，补充 SQ 显着改善生长性能（平均日增重和饲料转化率）和血清抗氧化状态，而敌草快攻击后，补充 SQ 显着减轻敌草快诱导的生长停滞、肠绒毛萎缩、肠上皮损伤。细胞凋亡、肠道通透性过高以及肠上皮紧密连接蛋白（zonula occlusionns-1、occludin 和 claudin-3）缺乏。在敌草快诱导的氧化应激下，补充 SQ 持续改善小肠、肝脏和肌肉的抗氧化状态。在体外，SQ 可减轻过氧化氢 (H ₂ O ₂ ) 诱导的细胞内活性氧水平升高和猪肠上皮细胞凋亡。综上所述，补充SQ可改善仔猪的生长性能，并通过提高仔猪的抗氧化能力，有效缓解急性氧化应激引起的生长迟缓和肠道损伤。我们的研究结果可能为减轻氧化应激引起的仔猪生长性能不佳和肠道损伤提供有效的策略。