Small Intestine Of Neonatal Rats Research Articles

Type 3 immune response protects against Salmonella Typhimurium infection in the small intestine of neonatal rats.

Bacterial infections, particularly Salmonella, pose a significant health risk to neonates due to their underdeveloped immune systems. Understanding the immune responses in the neonatal intestine during S. Typhimurium infection is crucial for developing effective therapeutic and prevention strategies. This study found neonatal rats exhibited severe symptoms, including significant mortality, body weight loss, diarrhea, and bacterial load increases in the gastrointestinal tract and various organs, particularly in the ileum. Moreover, neonatal rats exhibited a high percentage of type 3 immune cells including Th17, γδT17, and ILC3 after S. Typhimurium infection. Furthermore, cintirorgon treatment during early life, the agonist of RORγt, significantly enhanced IL-17A-secreting type 3 immune response and alleviated the symptoms. Our data reveal targeting RORγt and IL-17A pathways may offer a promising therapeutic strategy for bacterial infections in neonatal populations.

Priming with Retinoic Acid, an Active Metabolite of Vitamin A, Increases Vitamin A Uptake in the Small Intestine of Neonatal Rats.

Given that combined vitamin A (VA) and retinoic acid (RA) supplementation stimulated the intestinal uptake of plasma retinyl esters in neonatal rats, we administrated an RA dose as a pretreatment before VA supplementation to investigate the distinct effect of RA on intestinal VA kinetics. On postnatal days (P) 2 and 3, half of the pups received an oral dose of RA (RA group), while the remaining received canola oil as the control (CN). On P4, after receiving an oral dose of 3H-labeled VA, pups were euthanized at selected times (n = 4–6/treatment/time) and intestine was collected. In both CN and RA groups, intestinal VA mass increased dramatically after VA supplementation; however, RA-pretreated pups had relatively higher VA levels from 10 h and accumulated 30% more VA over the 30-h study. Labeled VA rapidly peaked in the intestine of CN pups and then declined from 13 h, while a continuous increase was observed in the RA group, with a second peak at 10 h and nearly twice the accumulation of 3H-labeled VA compared to CN. Our findings indicate that RA pretreatment may stimulate the influx of supplemental VA into the intestine, and the increased VA accumulation suggests a potential VA storage capacity in neonatal intestine.

Apoptosis in the small intestine of neonatal rat using blue light-emitting diode devices and conventional halogen-quartz devices in phototherapy

Phototherapy is the most frequently used treatment for the neonatal jaundice. However, recent papers report that phototherapy increased apoptosis in peripheral mononuclear leukocytes in vivo and in mouse lymphoma cell line in vitro. We have investigated the cytotoxicity of phototherapy on the small intestine of neonatal rat using conventional halogen-quartz device (conventional device) and blue light-emitting device (LED device) by measuring apoptotic cells. Four-day-old male Wistar rats were divided into three groups as follows: group 1, exposure to conventional device for 72 h; group 2, exposure to LED device for 72 h; and group 3, control (without phototherapy). After light exposure, the small intestine was examined for apoptosis. Apoptotic cells were detected by the TUNEL (terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling) assay, by immunohistochemistry for caspase-3 and by transmission electron microscopy. The proportion of positive cells by the TUNEL method in the epithelium of the small intestine was 6.2, 3.1 and 1.7% in the conventional device group, the LED device group and the control group, respectively. The apoptotic cells of the conventional device group is significantly higher than the LED device group (P < 0.01) and that of the LED device group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). We suspected that phototherapy induced apoptosis in neonatal small intestine and the conventional device introduces more apoptosis than the LED device.

Vanadate but Not Tungstate Prevents the Fructose-Induced Increase in GLUT5 Expression and Fructose Uptake by Neonatal Rat Intestine

Intermediary signals, precociously enhancing GLUT5 transcription in response to perfusion of its substrate, fructose, in the small intestine of neonatal rats, are not known. Because glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase), glucose-6-phosphate translocase (G6PT), and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) expression increases parallel to or precedes that of GLUT5, we investigated the link between these gluconeogenic genes and GLUT5 by using vanadate or tungstate, potent inhibitors of gluconeogenesis. Small intestinal perfusions of 20-d-old rats were performed with fructose alone, fructose + vanadate or tungstate, glucose alone, and glucose + vanadate or tungstate. As expected, fructose, but not glucose nor glucose + inhibitor perfusion, increased GLUT5 mRNA abundance and fructose transport. Fructose perfusion dramatically increased G6Pase mRNA abundance but had no effect on G6Pase activity. In sharp contrast, fructose perfusion did not increase FBPase gene expression but stimulated FBPase activity. Both vanadate and tungstate significantly inhibited G6Pase activity but did not prevent the fructose-induced increases in G6Pase and G6PT gene expression. Perfusion with fructose + vanadate prevented the fructose-induced increases in fructose transport and GLUT5 mRNA abundance, whereas perfusion with fructose + tungstate did not. Interestingly, vanadate, but not tungstate, inhibited the fructose-induced increase in FBPase activity. Thus, vanadate inhibition of fructose-induced increases in FBPase activity paralleled exactly vanadate inhibition of fructose-induced increases in GLUT5 mRNA abundance and activity. Fructose-induced changes in FBPase activity may regulate changes in GLUT5 expression and activity in the small intestine of neonatal rats. The marked increases in intestinal G6Pase and GLUT5 mRNA abundance may be a parallel response to different factors released during fructose perfusion.

Developmental Changes in Intraepithelial T Lymphocytes and NK Cells in the Small Intestine of Neonatal Rats

The main objective of this study was to characterize developmental changes in small intestinal intraepithelial lymphocyte (IEL) subpopulations during the suckling period, thus contributing to the understanding of the development of diffuse gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and to the identification of early mechanisms that protect the neonate from the first contact with diet and gut microbial antigens. The study was performed by double labeling and flow cytometry in IEL isolated from the proximal and distal small intestine of 1- to 21-d-old Lewis rats. During the suckling period, intraepithelial natural killer (NK) cells changed from a typical systemic phenotype, CD8+, to a specific intestinal phenotype, CD8-. Analysis of CD8+ IEL revealed a progressive increase in the relative number of CD8+ IEL co-expressing TCRalphabeta, cells associated with acquired immunity, whereas the percentage of CD8+ cells expressing the NK receptor, i.e. cells committed to innate immunity, decreased. At weaning, IEL maturity was still not achieved, as revealed by a phenotypic pattern that differed from that of adult rats. Thus, late after weaning, the regulatory CD8+CD4+ T IEL population appeared and the NK population declined. In summary, the intestinal intraepithelial compartment undergoes changes in its lymphocyte composition associated with the first ingestion of food. These changes are focused on a relatively high proportion of NK cells during the suckling period, and after weaning, an expansion of the regulatory CD8+CD4+ T cells.

Fructose-responsive genes in the small intestine of neonatal rats

The intestinal brush border fructose transporter GLUT5 (SLC2A5) typically appears in rats after weaning is completed. However, precocious consumption of dietary fructose or in vivo perfusion for 4 h of the small intestine with high fructose (HF) specifically stimulates de novo synthesis of GLUT5 mRNA and protein before weaning is completed. Intermediary signals linking the substrate, fructose, to GLUT5 transcription are not known but should also respond to fructose perfusion. Hence, we used microarray hybridization and RT-PCR to identify genes whose expression levels change during HF relative to high-glucose (HG) perfusion. Expression of GLUT5 and NaPi2b, the intestinal Na+-dependent phosphate transporter, dramatically increased and decreased, respectively, with HF perfusion for 4 h. Expression of >20 genes, including two key gluconeogenic enzymes, glucose-6-phosphatase (G6P) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase, also increased markedly, along with fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase, an enzyme unique to fructose metabolism and regulating fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase activity. GLUT5 and G6P mRNA abundance, which increased dramatically with HF relative to HG, alpha-methylglucose, and normal Ringer perfusion, may be tightly and specifically linked to changes in intestinal luminal fructose but not glucose concentrations. G6P but not GLUT5 mRNA abundance increased after just 20 min of HF perfusion. This cluster of gluconeogenic enzymes and their common metabolic intermediate fructose-6-phosphate may regulate fructose metabolism and GLUT5 expression in the small intestine.

Dietary fructose enhances intestinal fructose transport and GLUT5 expression in weaning rats.

Rates of fructose uptake by the small intestine of neonatal rats are typically very low from parturition through weaning but undergo a dramatic increase immediately after weaning is completed. In this study, we used intestinal fructose transport as a model to determine whether nutrient transport, normally enhanced only after completion of weaning, can be enhanced earlier during development. We found that ontogenetic changes in levels of GLUT5 mRNA correlate well with already known ontogenetic changes in rates of intestinal fructose transport: low levels and rates during suckling and weaning, and high levels and rates after weaning. In contrast, levels of GLUT2 and SGLT1 mRNA were relatively more elevated throughout the suckling and weaning periods. We then found that increased expression of GLUT5 mRNA caused by dietary fructose or sucrose paralleled diet-dependent increases in brush-border fructose uptake. Rates of brush-border glucose uptake and levels of SGLT1 and GLUT2 mRNA were not enhanced by dietary fructose, glucose, or sucrose. Finally, we found that rates of fructose uptake, levels of GLUT5 mRNA, and specific sucrase activity each increased with increasing concentrations of dietary fructose given precociously to midweaning rats. In contrast, brush-border glucose uptake was independent of dietary fructose concentration. Thus precocious introduction of dietary fructose causes enhanced expression of fructose transporters earlier during development. This effect is specific: only luminal fructose is effective, and only brush-border fructose transport can be modulated. These results unveil the potential for regulating nutrient transport early in development.

Prenatal ethanol exposure alters the expression of intestinal hydrolase mRNAs in newborn rats.

To gain insight into the postnatal growth delay induced by ethanol in utero, we characterized functional impairments of the small intestine of neonatal rats prenatally exposed to ethanol using a well-described model of gestational alcoholism (25% ethanol w/v in the drinking water). Expression of the intestinal enzymes-lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH) and intestinal alkaline phosphatase (IAP)-that are critical for enteral nutrition of neonates was studied. Characteristic patterns of LPH and IAP expression along the proximal-distal (horizontal) and crypt-villus (vertical) axes of the small intestine, as well as the intracellular localization of LPH and IAP mRNAs and immunoreactive proteins within absorptive enterocytes, were not altered by prenatal exposure to ethanol. However, a 10- to 15-fold increase in the number of LPH and IAP mRNA molecules per absorptive enterocyte was found throughout the intestine of ethanol-exposed neonates, compared with controls, whereas lactase and alkaline phosphatase activities per enterocyte remained unchanged. These findings suggest that ethanol in utero alters the mRNA abundance of epithelial enzymes in newborn rat small intestine. Changes in mRNA abundance could be an important aspect of enterocyte adaptation to high ethanol concentrations in gastrointestinal amniotic fluid of ethanol-exposed fetuses.

Binding of subclasses of rat immunoglobulin G to detergent-isolated Fc receptor from neonatal rat intestine.

Brush borders of cells lining the proximal small intestine of neonatal rats express a receptor specific for the Fc portion of IgG that mediates transport of IgG from gut lumen to blood. We have investigated the interaction of subclasses of rat IgG with this receptor, extracted in Triton X-114 solution, using phase separation to separate receptor-immunoglobulin complexes from free immunoglobulin. Binding of immunoglobulin showed the same pH dependence as is found in vivo, being active at pH 6 and reversibly inhibited at pH 8. The numbers of binding sites for each IgG subclass were similar, but polyclonal IgG2a was bound with higher affinity (1.2 X 10(8) M-1) than monoclonal IgG1 or IgG2b (2-3 X 10(7) M-1). Radiolabeled monoclonal IgG2c did not show specific binding, apparently as a result of the iodination process. Competition studies showed cross-inhibition between all IgG subclasses. IgG2a being approximately 10-fold more effective at competing for receptor than other isotypes, in the order IgG2a much greater than IgG1 greater than IgG2b greater than or equal to IgG2c. These data suggest that a single receptor capable of binding all subclasses of IgG is active in the detergent extract. However, investigation of radiolabeled immunoglobulins that were bound to isolated gut cells before detergent extraction showed evidence for other types of interaction in vivo.

Intestinal uptake of IgG in suckling rats: Distinction between jejunal and ileal epithelial cells demonstrated by simultaneous ultrastructural localization of IgG and acid phosphatase

During the suckling period, the proximal small intestine of neonatal rats absorbs maternal milk immunoglobulin G (IgG) into the circulation by a receptor-mediated mechanism. At the same time, milk IgG enters vacuoles in the distal small intestine unaided by a receptor and is degraded. To help define the distinction between the handling of IgG by the proximal and distal neonatal small intestine, we simultaneously localized IgG (by peroxidase-labeled antibodies) and acid phosphatase (by a lead phosphate technique) at the ultrastructural level. In the proximal small intestinal epithelial cells, IgG-containing vesicles were separate from acid phosphatase-containing structures, whereas in the distal intestinal epithelial cells, IgG was present together with acid phosphatase in large supranuclear vacuoles. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that IgG avoids degradation in the proximal intestinal cells because vesicles in which it is transported do not fuse with lysosomes, whereas IgG in the distal small intestine is degraded in lysosomal enzyme-containing organelles.

Intestinal uptake of IgG in suckling rats

Abstract During the suckling period, the proximal small intestine of neonatal rats absorbs maternal milk immunoglobulin G (IgG) into the circulation by a receptor-mediated mechanism. At the same time, milk IgG enters vacuoles in the distal small intestine unaided by a receptor and is degraded. To help define the distinction between the handling of IgG by the proximal and distal neonatal small intestine, we simultaneously localized IgG (by peroxidase-labeled antibodies) and acid phosphatase (by a lead phosphate technique) at the ultrastructural level. In the proximal small intestinal epithelial cells, IgG-containing vesicles were separate from acid phosphatase-containing structures, whereas in the distal intestinal epithelial cells, IgG was present together with acid phosphatase in large supranuclear vacuoles. These observations are consistent with the hypothesis that IgG avoids degradation in the proximal intestinal cells because vesicles in which it is transported do not fuse with lysosomes, whereas IgG in the distal small intestine is degraded in lysosomal enzyme-containing organelles.

Age-dependent variation of copper in tissue and proteins of neonatal rat small intestine.

AbstractTissue copper levels in the small intestine of neonatal rats increased rapidly following birth, reaching a maximum value of 302.6 ± 22.2 μg/g dry wt on Day 7 and then steadily declined to 6.4 ± 0.5 μg/g dry wt on Day 21. When subjected to gel filtration on Sephadex G-75, high-speed supernatant prepared from the small intestine of rats aged 0 to 21 days eluted as two copper-containing fractions corresponding to molecular weights of 60,000 and 9000 daltons. The copper contents of both fractions varied with age in a manner that correlated significantly with the variations observed in the tissue copper levels. However, orally administered 64Cu was found to be associated primarily with the low-molecular-weight fraction in 5-day-old rats. Furthermore, the amount of 64Cu in the low-molecular-weight fraction did not appear to turnover during the 42 hr following administration of the dose. These results suggest that a portion of the copper ingested by the neonatal rat is initially sequestered in the small ...

Isolation of a (copper, zinc)-thionein from the small intestine of neonatal rats

A Cu- and Zn-binding protein was isolated from the small intestine of 5-day-old rats whose only source of these metals was maternal milk. Elution behavior on Sephadex G-75 indicated that the molecular weight of this protein was about 9,000 daltons. Furthermore, the protein exhibited low absorbance at 280 nm, was separated into two subfractions by DEAE Sephadex chromatography and had low aromatic amino acid and high cysteine content. The protein, therefore, meets the criteria for classification as a metallothionein. Evidence suggested that the metallothionein is located primarily in the distal portion of the small intestine.

Studies on Receptors for IgG on Epithelial Cells of the Rat Intestine

Abstract It has been previously shown that immunoglobulins of the IgG class are absorbed and transported across the proximal small intestine of neonatal rats during the first 18 to 21 days of life. In the present work, we examined the binding of mouse immunoglobulins to the intestinal epithelium of neonatal rats. Radioiodinated mouse immunoglobulins of various classes and IgG subclasses, Fab and Fc fragments of IgG, and monomeric and heat-aggregated forms of IgG were instilled into loops of intestine prepared from rats of various ages. The specificity of the radiolabeled immunoglobulin binding was evaluated by competitive inhibition with unlabeled proteins. Monomeric IgG bound specifically to the apical regions of villi in the proximal jejunum. Specific binding progressively decreased from the 12th day of life and could not be demonstrated after about the 21st day of life. Mouse IgA and IgM did not bind specifically. Radioiodinated Fc fragments of IgG bound specifically, whereas radioiodinated Fab fragments did not. Treatment of 14-day-old rats with cortisone acetate caused binding of monomeric IgG to cease prematurely by day 16. Intestinal loops treated with trypsin no longer bound radioiodinated IgG. Heat-aggregated IgG also bound specifically to jejunal epithelium. In contrast to the binding of monomeric immunoglobulin, this binding continued into adulthood and increased in response to cortisone treatment. Aggregated immunoglobulin did not inhibit the binding of monomeric immunoglobulin, but did inhibit the binding of aggregates. These studies: 1) confirm the presence of receptors for the Fc region of monomeric IgG on absorptive epithelial cells of the rat jejunum; 2) demonstrate that the receptors disappear at the time when immunoglobulin transport is known to cease, and therefore appear to be critically involved in transport of monomeric IgG; 3) demonstrate that the receptors for monomeric IgG are sensitive to trypsin and disappear prematurely after cortisone treatment; 4) demonstrate specific binding of aggregated IgG, perhaps by receptor mechanisms different from those involved in the binding of monomeric IgG.

Contraction of isolated brush borders from the intestinal epithelium.

Brush borders isolated from epithelial cells from the small intestine of neonatal rats are able to contract in the presence of ATP and Mg2+; Ca2+ is not required. Contraction is characterized by a pinching-in of the plasma membrane in the region of the zonula adherens and a subsequent rounding of the brush borders. No movement or consistent shortening of the microvilli is observed. The contraction appears to involve the 5- to 7-nm diameter microfilaments in the terminal web which associate with the zonula adherens. These filaments bind heavy meromyosin as do the actin core filaments of the microvilli. A model for contraction is presented in which, in the intact cell, terminal web filaments and core filaments interact to produce shortening of the microvilli.

Regional variation in the aerobic metabolism of intestinal mucous membrane

1.1. The respiration rate of different regions of the small intestine of neonatal rat was examined using a direct manometric method.2.2. Everted segments of whole intestinal wall showed a gradient in oxygen uptake decreasing from jejunum to ileum.3.3. After separation of mucosal and muscle layers the gradient was found to be predominantly associated with the activity of the mucosal layer.4.4. The regional variation in oxygen uptake was correlated with a variation in the number of mucosal cell mitochondria, and different levels of succinic activity along the intestine.