Lamina Propria Of Duodenum Research Articles

Dietary Betaine Affect Duodenal Histology of Broilers Challenged with a Mixed Coccidial Infection

The purpose of this research was to investigate effect of dietary betaine on intestinal morphology after an experimental coccidiosis. Hence a total of 189 male and female broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 9 floor cages. Chicks were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0, 0.6 or 1.2 g kg(-1) betaine. All birds were inoculated orally with Eimeria oocysts on day 28. Duodenal morphology parameters and lesions were scored by microscopic observation on intestine samples which were taken at day 42 of age. Adding 1.2 g kg(-1) betaine to diet diminished intestinal lesions (p < 0.05). Dietary supplementation with 0.6 or 1.2 g kg(-1) betaine significantly (p < 0.01) increased intraepithelial lymphocytes as well. Level of additive betaine had no effect on the ratio of villus height/crypt depth or villus surface area. Lamina propria of duodenum became thicker in the intestine of chickens which received more supplemental betaine via their diet. In conclusion, since the number of intraepithelial lymphocytes and thickness of lamina propria represent the condition of gut immune response, it seems that dietary betaine may immunomodulate the gastrointestinal tract of broilers. In addition, betaine effect on villus morphology measured later in life differed from what had been measured already earlier in life of the chicks.

A histochemical procedure for light microscopic demonstration of xanthine oxidase activity in unfixed cryostat sections using cerium ions and a semipermeable membrane technique.

Xanthine oxidoreductase exists in two functionally distinct forms. Under normal conditions, the larger part of the enzyme occurs as an NAD(+)-dependent dehydrogenase form which produces NADH and urate. The dehydrogenase can be transformed under various (patho)physiological conditions to an oxygen-dependent oxidase form which produces oxygen radicals and/or hydrogen peroxide and urate. Tetrazolium salts are used to demonstrate the total activity of both the dehydrogenase and the oxidase form of the enzyme. We have developed a procedure to detect the oxidase form only in unfixed cryostat sections with the use of cerium on the basis of the semipermeable membrane technique. The incubation medium contained hypoxanthine as substrate, cerium ions, and sodium azide to inhibit catalase and peroxidase activity. In a second-step reaction, diaminobenzidine was polymerized in the presence of cobalt ions by decomposition of cerium perhydroxide. Large amounts of final reaction product were found in milk droplets in the acini of lactating bovine mammary gland, whereas milk-secreting epithelial cells contained hardly any final reaction product. In rat duodenum, enzyme activity was found in the cytoplasm of enterocytes and goblet cells but not in the mucus. Control reactions performed in the absence of substrate or in the presence of substrate and allopurinol, a specific inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, were completely negative in both tissues, with the exception of polymorphonuclear leukocytes in the lamina propria of duodenum. The positive nonspecific reaction in these cells was caused by myeloperoxidase activity. We conclude that the present method is specific for the detection of xanthine oxidase activity. Moreover, conversion of the dehydrogenase form into the oxidase form can be prevented by omission of chemical fixation of the tissue in the present procedure.

Canine Lymphocytic Plasmocytic Enteritis: An Immunopathological Investigation of Intestinal Plasma Cells

The numbers of IgA-, IgG- and IgM-containing plasma cells in the lamina propria of duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and coecum were quantitated in 3 patients suffering from lymphocytic plasmacytic enteritis and 3 normal control dogs. A great increase was found in all 3 types of plasma cells and at all levels of the intestinal tract. Especially the IgG-containing cells showed a remarkable increase particularly in 2 patients. The possible reasons for these heavy infiltrations of immunologically competent cells are discussed, and chronic antigenic stimulations of food origin is suggested.