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Dietary Restriction Induces Biochemical and Morphometric Changes in the Small Intestine of Nursing Piglets¹

María C. Núñez^*,2, Juan D. Bueno, María V. Ayudarte^*, Antonio Almendros, Ahtonio Ríos, María D. Suárez^** and Angel Gil^*,**,

^* Research Department, Abbott Laboratories, 18004 Granada, Spain Department of Cell Biology ^** Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biolgoy, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the biochemical and morphometric changes in the small intestine of nursing piglets caused by 60% dietary restriction, and to ascertain whether this model reproduces the intestinal alterations caused by malnutrition in human infants. Piglets subjected to dietary restriction had significantly lower levels of mucosal DNA and protein, and significantly reduced segmental disaccharidase and leucine aminopeptidase activities compared with age-matched, freely fed controls. However, greater disaccharidase-specific activities were observed in duodenum and jejunum of diet restricted piglets compared with controls. Other findings included significantly lower thickness of the mucosa, villous height and width, and villous surface area, a significantly lower number of goblet cells, and significantly greater mucosal crypt depth, intraepithelial leucocyte number, and infiltrated cells per area of lamina propria. The model reproduces most of the biochemical and morphometric changes observed in the small intestine of young human infants with chronic diarrhea and malnutrition, and may be useful in further investigations of the biochemical and molecular mechanisms of intestinal alterations caused by primary malnutrition in early infancy.

KEY WORDS: • dietary restriction • small intestine • biochemical changes • histological changes • pigs

¹ The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 USC section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

² To whom correspondence and reprint requests should be addressed.

Manuscript received 5 July 1995. Revision accepted 2 January 1996.

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