Gut Permeability and Intestinal Mucins, Invertase, and Peroxidase in Control and Diabetes-Prone BB Rats Fed Either a Protective or a Diabetogenic Diet

Abstract

This study deals with the enteropathy recently identified in diabetes-prone BB rats (BBdp). Diabetes-resistant BB rats (BBc) and BBdp rats were fed from days 32-39 onward either a protective diabetes-retardant hydrolyzed casein diet (HC) or a plant-based diabetogenic (NTP) diet. The NTP diet decreased body weight and plasma insulin in BBc and BBdp rats. The BBdp rats displayed low intestinal invertase and increased intestinal peroxidase activity. In the BBdp rats fed the HC diet, the mucin content 30-35 cm below the pylorus was higher and the gut permeability lower than in the other three rat groups. There was a significant inverse correlation between gut permeability and the insulinogenic index in the BBdp rats fed the HC or NTP diet. Thus, in BBdp rats, the HC diet somehow prevents the increase in gut permeability and the decrease in the insulinogenic index otherwise found in some of these diabetes-prone animals.

Restoration of impaired intestinal barrier function by the hydrolysed casein diet contributes to the prevention of type 1 diabetes in the diabetes-prone BioBreeding rat

“…It was shown by Courtois et al that a HC diet increased intestinal mucin levels and subsequently improved intestinal barrier function in BB rats as demonstrated by reduced uptake of FITC-labelled dextran across the gut epithelium [7]. These results support those presented in this paper.…”

“…Relation between the level of prediabetic gut permeability and autoimmune diabetes development, and effects of the HC diet on intestinal barrier function in DP-BB rats As previously reported by our group and others [1, 3–7], the HC diet prevented and delayed the onset of autoimmune diabetes in DP-BB rats (Fig. 1a).…”

“…It was shown that a HC diet improves the intestinal integrity of DP-BB rats [7, 16], but these studies did not investigate the effect of the HC diet on tight junctions, the zonulin system, gut micro-biota and the relation with type 1 diabetes development.…”

Wheat protein-induced proinflammatory T helper 1 bias in mesenteric lymph nodes of young diabetes-prone rats

“…The present study shows that this is also the case in young BBdp rats. Moreover, these animals display several signs of gut damage including a mild coeliac-like enteropathy [10], decreased disaccharidase activity [40] decreased mucin content [14,47], and increased gut permeability to FITC-conjugated dextran 4000 [14,47] and mannitol [11].…”

“…5) [46]. The development of enteropathy in the BBdp gut by as early as 30 days [10] could set the stage for the continuing inflammatory damage and increased permeability [11,47] that has been linked to diabetes outcome [48] and is reported to be diet-modifiable [14,47]. A leaky gut could permit the entry of unusually large amounts of soluble dietary wheat antigens through the mucosal barrier.…”