Effects of ingestion of a green seaweed,Ulva lactuca, upon caecal and colonic mucosas in the germ-free rat and in the heteroxenic rat harbouring a human bacterial flora
✍ Scribed by Meslin, Jean-Claude; Andrieux, Claude; Hibert, Anne; Bensaada, Martine; Szylit, Odette
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 107 KB
- Volume
- 79
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0022-5142
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✦ Synopsis
Eþ ect of ingestion of green seaweed, Ulva lactuca, (70 g kg-1) during a 6-week period on caecal and colonic mucosas was studied in germ-free (GF) rats and in heteroxenic (HE) rats harbouring a human bacterial ýora (GF rats associated with a human ýora). The pH and sulphide concentration of the caecal contents, crypt morphometry, mitotic index and mucin types in the caecal and distal colonic mucosas were determined. In the GF caecum, Ulva strongly increased crypt depth and mucincontaining cells irrespective of the mucin type studied (neutral, acidic or sulphated) compared to the control diet but had no signiücant eþ ect on mitotic index. The crypt depth and mucin-containing cells in the caecum were higher in HE than in GF control rats. They were slightly but signiücantly increased by Ulva. In the distal colon mucosa of GF rats, Ulva decreased crypt depth and cell number as well as sulphomucin-containing cells. Conversely, in the HE rats, it increased crypt depth and reduced the number of neutral mucin-containing cells. These results show that Ulva lactuca exerts an intrinsic eþ ect on mucosal morphometry and on mucin biosynthesis in GF rats. No pathological alteration was observed in the mucosas and no signiücant modiücation of the mitotic index or sulphide production was observed in HE rats.