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Response to Dietary Wheat Bran in the Exocrine Pancreas and Intestine of Rats¹

Departments of Nutrition and Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA 95616

Rats were fed a fiber-free (FF) diet mixture or the same diet with a supplement of 20% wheat bran (WB). After 2 weeks, the pancreas contained higher levels of amylase and trypsin in rats fed WB. In response to a meal, the intestine contained more lipase activity in the WB group. The dry weight of material and protein level in the intestinal contents were also elevated in the WB group. The size of the intestinal villi had not changed, but it did contain more goblet cells. The results indicate that consumption of wheat bran can lead to changes in the exocrine pancreas, perhaps associated with shifts in gut hormones, and may affect absorption by increasing the bulk of material as well as enhancing mucus production in the intestine.

KEY WORDS: • wheat bran • dietary fiber • pancreatic enzymes • intestine • digestion

¹ Supported by NIH grant AM 20446 and Nutrition Foundation grant 542.

Manuscript received 20 July 1981.