Poster
# 12
Poster |
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6th Internet World Congress for Biomedical Sciences |
Montserrat Mitjans(1), Liseth Garcia(2), Evangelina Marrero(3), Pilar Vinardell(4)
(1)(4)Departament de Fisiologia-Div IV. Facultat de Farmacia - Barcelona. Spain
(2)(3)Centro Nacional de Sanidad Agropecuaria - San José de las Lajas. Cuba
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[Gastroenterology & Hepatology] |
[Pathology] |
The diarrhea observed after weaning in pigs causes high mortalitiy with serious economic consequences (1). The presence of this phenomenon may be attributed to several infections such as coccidiosis (2). In order to reduce these pathological alterations Ligmed-A, which is obtained from sugar-cane, was prepared and manufactured in Cuba, because it has similar effectivity to other drugs used in the treatment of diarrhea. This compound is about 90% of lignin, an insoluble polyphenolic constituent of plants, and a component of dietary fiber. The mechanism of action of lignin is unknown and the only studies on its effect on gastrointestinal tract have focused on the large intestine (3) or proteolytic enzymes (4).
The aim of the present work was to assess the action of lignin on the morphometry of the small intestine.
The equipment, handling and sacrifice of animals was performed in accordance with the European Council Legislation 87/609/EC for the protection of experimental animals. Male Wistar rats (Harlam Interfauna Iberica, S.A., Barcelona, Spain) with an initial weight of about 210 g were housed in cages in an animal room maintained at 22 ± 2ºC with a relative humidity of 60 ± 15% and 12-12 hours light-dark cycle. The animals were fed ad libitum with laboratory chow and allowed free access to tap water. To avoid the effect of diurnal changes, administration and other operations were performed at 14:00 h. Eight treated animals received a daily oral dose of 2g/Kg of Ligmed-A for 4 days, because it is the recommended dose and periodicity of the administration (5). The compound was suspended in distilled water and a volume of 10 ml/Kg was intragastrically administrated. Four control animals received 10 ml/Kg of distilled water. At the end of the treatment period the animals were anesthetized and the whole small intestine was quickly removed and divided into duodenal, jejunal and ileal portions, washed with ice-cold saline, and then fixed in 10% formalin at room temperature for 48 h. Tissue pieces were then rinsed in tap water for 1 h and dehydrated in a graded ethanol series, embedded in paraffin, and cut into 5-micrometer sections along the villus-crypt axis. Paraffin was removed from the slices by placing them in xylene followed by a graded ethanol series, and finally they were stained with hematoxylin/eosin for microscopic examination. Eight to ten samples from each animal and section were observed with a Leica microscope equipped with a video camera. The images were load and then treated with a image computer program (IMAT) developped by the Serveis Cientifico-Tècnics of Barcelona University. In each section wall thickness, villus length and width, crypt depth (invagination between adjacent villi)(Figure 1), villus linear density and ratio C:V (number of crypt for each villi) (6-8)were determined.
Results are expressed as Mean ± Standard error. The statistical anlysis was performed using a Stundent t test. The variable considered was: treatment. On the basis of the final model, the hypotheses were rejected at an a-risk level of 0.05. Confidence intervals of estimations were fixed at 95%.
Figures 2 and 3 show, respectively, villus length and width of duodenum, jejunum and ileum of control and ligmed treated animals. The results obtained show an oral-aboral decrease in length in the two groups studied. No statistical differences were observed between control and treated animals, neither in length nor in width. Crypt depht was represented in figure 4. It could be observed that there is no statistical differences between the two groups studied, indeed, no hyperplasia as a sign of mucosal damage is detected. In Figure 5 it is presented the wall thicness. This parameter includes the most external layers of the intestine (muscular and serosa) which has no direct contact with the product, although they could be affected. As it could be observed, there is no significant variation in this variable in ligmed treated animals. Finally, villus linear density (Figure 6) and ratio C:V (Figure 7), also show no significant differences between the two groups studied.
In figures 8 and 9, are showed the aspect of jejunum in control (Figure 8) and ligmed treated animals (Figure 9). As it could be observed from the visual aspect of the mucosa, the jejunum of ligmend treated animals does no present any damage. This first appreciation has been confirmed with the measurements represented in the previous figures.
The lack of damage on the small intestine mucosa after repeated oral administration of Ligmed-A may us conclude that this product could be used in the treatment of diarrhea without adverse effects. These results are also in accordance with the absence of effects induced by Ligmed-A in the enzyme activity of the small intestine studied in a previous work (9).
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[Gastroenterology & Hepatology] |
[Pathology] |
