Received July 14, 2005
Revised August 5, 2005
Accepted after revision August 31, 2005
GI and epithelial physiology
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Intestinal effects of long-lasting spermine ingestion by suckling rats
Patricia Deloyer 1,
Olivier Peulen 1,
G. Dandrifosse 1*
1 University of Liege
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: g.dandrifosse{at}ulg.ac.be.
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Abstract |
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Spermine ingestion induces the precocious maturation of the small intestine in suckling rats. Previous observations suggest that spermine-induced intestinal maturation is a two steps phenomena. The first step consists in the elimination of immature enterocytes (4-10 h post spermine ingestion) and the second step is the replacement of previous immature cells by adult-type enterocytes (2 - 3 days post initial spermine administration). The spermine-induced maturation is reversible when spermine administration is stopped. This work was undertaken in order to check whether the extension of polyamine administration (3 - 7 days) after the appearance of the spermine-induced maturation can keep the mature state of the small intestine. Our results indicate that extension of spermine administration does not avoid some parameters (sucrase and maltase specific activities) to go back to a typical "immature" value while others stay at a typical "mature" level (mucosal weight, lactase specific activity). Our results show that there are, at least, two different mechanisms in order to control the spermine-induced maturation of the small intestine.
Key Words:
Development, Polyamine, Small intestine
