EN
Eighty piglets, 50 with diarrhoea and 30 healthy ones (control group), were examined. The animals underwent clinical and biochemical investigations: glucose and ketone compound levels, pH of faeces and the percentage of disacharides. Moreover, D-xylose and lactose load tests were carried out. Gross and histopathological examinations of small intestines were performed in dead animals. Dyspepsia and inadequate absorption of carbohydrates were found during the course of alimentary tract catarrh in the piglets (D-xylose and lactose load test results, increased proportional content of disacharides in faeces and acid pH of faeces), which may lead to energy disturbances (lower glucose level and higher content of ketone compounds). The above disturbances in diarrhoeic piglets may be the consequence of histopathological changes in the intestinal epithelium (accelerated desquamation of epithelium, different shape and size of brush borders).