DIET DURING ROTAVIRUS ENTERITIS AFFECTS JEJUNAL PERMEABILITY TO MACROMOLECULES IN SUCKLING RATS

We studied the influence of diet during diarrhea on gut mucosal barrie r in a suckling rat model. Rat pups were inoculated with IDIR virus (a group B rotavirus) at 10 d of age. Beginning 2 d postinfection, in ad dition to maternal milk, group CM received a daily gavage of cow milk and group GG received Lactobacillus casei strain GG, a human strain pr eviously shown to survive the passage through the gastrointestinal tra ct and temporarily colonize the gut. Group CMGG received a combination of these, and control animals were gavaged with tap water. At 21 d of age, jejunal absorption of intact and degraded horse-radish peroxidas e (HRP) in Ussing chamber was markedly higher in IDIR virus-infected t han in noninfected controls. In the two groups gavaged with cow milk, group CM and group CMGG, the numbers of specific antibody-secreting ce lls (enumerated by the solid-phase enzyme-linked immunospot assay) aga inst beta-lactoglobulin were significantly higher than in the groups t hat had not received cow milk. In parallel with immune system activati on, a statistically significant increase in the absorption of intact H RP (mean and 95% confidence interval, ng x h-1 x cm-2) was detected: g roup CM, 302 (155, 586); group CMGG, 174 (56, 545); infected controls, 121 (57, 257); and group GG, 44 (8, 254). A decrease in the uptake of intact HRP (F = 3.64, p = 0.06) and degraded HRP (F = 9.50, p = 0.004 ) was associated with the introduction of L. casei GG to the diet, irr espective of coexposure to cow milk. These results indicate that feedi ng cow milk amplifies and intestinal implantation of lactobacilli may counteract rotavirus infection-associated intestinal dysfunction. They further suggest that milk fermented with lactic acid bacteria that ar e able to colonize the gut may prove near-optimal in dietary managemen t of acute gastroenteritis.