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Animals
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Diarrheal Diseases in Piglets: Pathogenic Mechanism, Prevention and Control
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Diarrheal Diseases in Piglets: Pathogenic Mechanism, Prevention and Control

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Pigs".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 895

Editors

Dr. Guiyan Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: post-weaning diarrhea; probiotics; gut–liver–brain axis; multi-omics integration; big data analysis; artificial intelligence in animal health; nutritional metabolic diseases; molecular pathogenesis; early diagnostic biomarkers; livestock disease prevention; common infectious diseases in livestock
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Jialu Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Veterinary Medicine, Southwest University, Chongqing, China
Interests: porcine enteric viruses; diarrhea disease; natural products; metabolites; me-tabolism homeostasis; metabolism reprogramming; lipid droplets; lysosomal function

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diarrhea in piglets remains a critical challenge in swine production, causing substantial economic losses due to increased mortality, reduced growth performance, and high treatment costs. The etiology is complex, involving diverse pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, and parasites, often compounded by environmental, nutritional, and management factors. Furthermore, the investigation of piglets’ diarrhea also contributes to the research on human diarrhea diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. Despite advancements in veterinary science, diarrhea continues to impair the development of global pig farming, highlighting gaps in the understanding of underlying mechanisms and in the development of effective, sustainable control strategies.

This Special Issue addresses these pressing needs. Its primary aim is to compile advanced research articles and comprehensive reviews that deepen our insight into the pathogenic mechanisms of major enteric diseases affecting piglets. Furthermore, it encourages experts around the world to share their latest research outcomes in prevention, control, and treatment. This Issue aims to contribute significantly to improving piglet health, enhancing welfare, and supporting the sustainability of the swine industry worldwide. We invite researchers to submit their original work and perspectives to this collaborative effort.

Dr. Guiyan Yang
Dr. Jialu Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • viral diarrhea in piglets
  • bacterial diarrhea in piglets
  • parasitic diarrhea in piglets
  • piglets diarrhea caused by environment, nutrition and management
  • interaction between microorganism and the host
  • diarrhea control by vaccines
  • potential drugs for diarrhea treatment
  • nutrition and immunity

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 297 KB  
Article
The Effect of Arginine Supplementation on Intestinal Antioxidant Capacity, Whole Blood Cell Count and Antiviral Immune Function of Piglets Infected with Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea Virus
by Zhiwei Zhang, Yunlong Du, Rongrong Jian, Hanbo Li, Zhonghua Li, Peng Li, Lei Wang, Di Zhao, Dan Yi, Tao Wu, Mengjun Wu and Yongqing Hou
Animals 2026, 16(13), 2002; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16132002 - 30 Jun 2026
Viewed by 165
Abstract
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) imposes substantial economic losses on the global swine industry owing to its high pathogenicity and transmissibility. Although arginine (Arg) is known to support the integrity of intestinal barrier, it is not clear whether Arg can alleviate intestinal injury [...] Read more.
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) imposes substantial economic losses on the global swine industry owing to its high pathogenicity and transmissibility. Although arginine (Arg) is known to support the integrity of intestinal barrier, it is not clear whether Arg can alleviate intestinal injury induced by PEDV. A total of 32 healthy 7-day-old piglets were randomly assigned to four groups (Control, Arg, PEDV, PEDV + Arg; eight replicates per group). From day 5, piglets in the Arg and PEDV + Arg groups were orally administered Arg at 400 mg/kg body weight until day 11; then, PEDV (1 × 105.5 TCID50) was given orally for two PEDV-infected groups. On day 14, all piglets were slaughtered to obtain blood and intestine samples for further analysis. The results showed that PEDV infection significantly reduced T-SOD and CAT activities in plasma and intestine while elevating MPO levels. Arg supplementation restored T-SOD (plasma, duodenum, ileum), CAT (plasma, ileum), and GSH-Px (jejunum, ileum) activities and reduced MDA (jejunum) content in PEDV-infected piglets. Hematological analysis showed Arg alleviated PEDV-induced increases in MCV and RDW-SD, and significantly elevated MCHC. The real-time quantitative PCR analysis demonstrated that Arg further enhanced PEDV structural genes (M, N, S) expression in the duodenum, ileum, and colon. Concurrently, Arg significantly up-regulated interferon-stimulated genes (MX1, OASL, ISG15, IFITM3) in the ileum, IRF7 in the duodenum and colon, and IFN-β in the ileum. Arg also down-regulated the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and CXCL2 and the antimicrobial peptide REG3G in the colon, while up-regulating the tissue repair gene MMP13 in the ileum. In conclusion, oral Arg exhibits a unique dual role: it promotes PEDV replication to a certain extent while significantly enhancing antioxidant capacity, strengthening intestinal antiviral immunity, and attenuating intestinal inflammation. These findings highlight Arg’s role in promoting disease tolerance and offer a novel perspective for nutritional intervention strategies against PEDV infection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diarrheal Diseases in Piglets: Pathogenic Mechanism, Prevention and Control)
15 pages, 7563 KB  
Article
Notoginsenoside R1 Inhibits Porcine Deltacoronavirus Infection In Vitro by Restoring SERCA2-Mediated Calcium Homeostasis
by Jialu Zhang, Yuqian Liu, Wenzhe Liu, Zhouyuan Wang, Hanlu Wang, Xuejing Xia, Lianci Peng, Tingting Chen and Rendong Fang
Animals 2026, 16(12), 1836; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16121836 - 14 Jun 2026
Viewed by 317
Abstract
Porcine coronavirus is one of the prevalent enteric coronaviruses in pigs, causing watery diarrhea and even death in suckling piglets and resulting in giant losses to the pig industry. However, effective antiviral strategies against PDCoV remain limited. Notoginsenoside R1 (NG-R1), a saponin extracted [...] Read more.
Porcine coronavirus is one of the prevalent enteric coronaviruses in pigs, causing watery diarrhea and even death in suckling piglets and resulting in giant losses to the pig industry. However, effective antiviral strategies against PDCoV remain limited. Notoginsenoside R1 (NG-R1), a saponin extracted from Panax notoginseng, exhibits diverse bioactivities, but its antiviral potential has not been fully characterized. Herein, we systematically investigated the anti-PDCoV effect of NG-R1 and its underlying mechanism. NG-R1 showed no cytotoxic effect on LLC-PK1 cells and exerted antiviral ability against PDCoV infection through targeting the whole life cycle of the virus. In addition, network pharmacology analysis identified calcium signaling as a potentially relevant pathway involved in the antiviral activity of NG-R1. Further data demonstrated that PDCoV infection disrupted intracellular calcium homeostasis, whereas NG-R1 treatment partially restored calcium balance and attenuated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Moreover, NG-R1 modulated the expression of SERCA2, a key regulator of ER calcium transport. Thapsigargin, an inhibitor of SERCA2, showed similar antiviral capacity to NG-R1. Collectively, our findings suggest that NG-R1 exerts antiviral activity against PDCoV, potentially through regulation of calcium homeostasis mediated by SERCA2. This study provides a theoretical basis for the development of novel antiviral agents targeting calcium signaling pathways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diarrheal Diseases in Piglets: Pathogenic Mechanism, Prevention and Control)
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