An Elemental Diet Controls Inflammation in Indomethacin-Induced Small Bowel Disease in Rats: The Role of Low Dietary Fat and the Elimination of Dietary Proteins

Abstract

Elemental diets (EDs) are effective in treating Crohn's disease. We hypothesize that low dietary fat and amino acids used as the sole nitrogen source are the major contributors for the success of EDs. We examined the influences of the addition of dietary fat and protein to an ED using an indomethacin-induced inflammation model in rat small intestine. In the ED-fed rats, the intestinal damage score was decreased compared with that in the standard chow group with decreasing intestinal permeability. By supplementing an ED with soybean oil (SO), intestinal permeability was increased to a level similar to that of the standard chow group. For this group, the intestinal damage score also increased compared with that of the ED group but did not reach the levels observed in the standard chow group. The addition of dietary proteins (using heat-denatured pancreatin) resulted in intestinal damage scores that were significantly higher than those of the ED+SO-fed group. The dietary protein increased the intestinal damage score. These results suggest that EDs control inflammation by decreasing intestinal permeability and the elimination of dietary proteins.

Gastrointestinal Microbiota Do Not Significantly Contribute to T Cell Activation or GI Inflammation in Ndfip1-cKO Mice

“…[13] demonstrated that a ten-fold reduction of 16S rDNA in stool. This decrease in GI microbiota correlated with reduced production of IL-17, a cytokine associated with specific types of bacteria [14], [15], [16], by intestinal CD4+ T cells. Our antibiotic treatment reduced the number of bacterial 16S rDNA copies detected in stool by over 100-fold after two weeks.…”

“…In addition to bacterial-derived antigens, food antigens have also been implicated in the pathogenesis of IBD [11]. Supporting this, food restriction diets have been shown to improve IBD symptoms in human patients and in animal models [12], [13], [14].…”

Elemental Diet Regulates Intestinal Permeability and Antibody Production in Indomethacin-Induced Intestinal Injury Rats

“…Macroscopic intestinal damage was assessed by scoring four items (Table 1) as described by Chen et al (25). Intestinal permeability was assessed by measuring urinary excretion of phenolsulfonphthalein (PSP) after oral administration of 20 mg PSP (19,26) via a gastric tube. Urine was collected over the next 24 h, brought to 50 mL with distilled water, and centrifuged at 2,100 3g for 10 min.…”

“…Administration of indomethacin (Indo), a nonste-roidal anti-inflammatory drug, to experimental animals induces intestinal ulcers similar to those seen in CD patients (16,17). Previous work has demonstrated that an elemental diet (ED) can significantly reduce such Indo-induced intestinal damage (18,19). An ED contains free amino acids as a nitrogen source and is low in fat; thus, it can be readily absorbed without the need for digestion (20).…”