Data for: Lactoferrin regulates mucosal homeostasis and mediates resistance to PEDV infection in piglets

Gut microbiota influences host metabolism, immune system maturation, and bioactive molecules production. In the battle against viruses, bacteria and natural biomolecules had demonstrated the immense potential. Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) is a highly pathogenic coronavirus that targets the porcine intestine. We used the PEDV-infected piglet model and multi-omics technology to analyze changes in host intracellular microenvironment and intestinal microecology during viral infection. We hypothesized that natural macromolecules like bovine lactoferrin and antimicrobial peptides also have antiviral effects and we conducted experiments to study whether and how lactoferrin affects viral infection and gut homeostasis. Our findings revealed PEDV infection resulted in intestinal damage and microbiota imbalance, with increased abundance of Proteobacteria, Escherichia-Shigella and decreased abundance of Bacteroides, Prevotella. Metabolomics showed disrupted amino acid and lipid metabolism. Lactoferrin treatment alleviated symptoms and decreased viral loads, besides, it restored beneficial microbiota, upregulated tight junction proteins and reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines expression. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified epithelial cells as the main PEDV targets, with lactoferrin enhancing antiviral protein expression (ISG15) and strengthening gut mucosal barriers. These findings may reveal new therapeutic strategies for bovine lactoferrin or peptides derived from bovine lactoferrin in developing novel antiviral agents against PEDV infection.