Energy metabolism in the colon has been poorly investigated. Feeding highly fermentable carbohydrates in the diet leads to an increased short chain fatty acid production in the colon, the effect of which on colonic mucosal metabolism is essentially unknown.
Summary ― Intestinal mucosal morphometry and ileal epithelial renewal were studied in conventional (CV) and germ-free (GF) rats fed either poorly digestible amylomaize or normal maize starch diets. Intestinal morphometry and position of labelled enterocytes were studied at various times after tritiated thymidine injection. With amylomaize starch diet, no difference was observed in the size of crypts (C), villi (V) and C + V between duodenum and jejunum both in CV and GF rats. In the ileum, however, values were significantly lower than those in the duodenum and jejunum. Furthermore, the presence of the microbial flora led to higher values when compared with GF values. Despite the morphological modifications in the ileum, no significant difference was detected in the labelled cell positions and epithelial renewal time between CV and GF values. This suggests that the resistant part of amylomaize starch was responsible for the modification in mucosal morphometry and the longer ileal epithelium renewal time in CV rats which then becomes similar to that in GF rats.
The RICO rat is a useful model for studying the effect of irradiation on regional cholesterogenesis in intestinal mucosa. Cholesterol synthesis in crypt cells was lowered 1 and 2 days after irradiation, over-expressed after 4 days and subsequently returned to its normal level.
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