Effect of alteration in nutritional style on liver function tests and general stool examination

Abstract

Our previous work showed that changing in nutritional style play an important role in modifying the architectural aspects of various organs at the tissue level such as intestine and liver. Those findings need further investigation at physiological levels, so this work aimed to study the effect of transition from a completely plant-based diet to 10% animal products on liver function tests and general stool examination in mice. Eight-week-old Balb/c male mice were divided into two groups (n=8); the first one fed on the restricted diet containing 10% of sheep’s brain homogenate, and the second fed on a conventional diet for 7 days ad libitum that act as a control group. At the end of the experiment, the characteristic of stool was examined by general stool examination test. After that, all mice were sacrificed and the blood samples were collected from eyes by surgical removal of the eyeball to determine blood alanine transaminase ALT and aspartate transaminase AST. The results showed that the stools of the restricted group were black and solid; have indigested material, fatty drops, and monilia; and have a high number of pus, RBC, and epithelial cells. ALT, AST, and ALT/AST ratio were significantly higher in the restricted group compared to control. On the other hand, ALT and ALT/AST ration have significant positive correlation with general stool examination parameters. It can be concluded that changing in nutritional style rather than conventional diet plays a crucial role in modifying the architectural aspects of different organs not only at tissue level but also at the physiology level especial in the digestive system due to indigestion and absorption processes, negative immune responses and even neural reflex. The effect of this diet changing on neural reflex need farther research.