DIET SUPPLEMENTED WITH YOGURT OR MILK FERMENTED BY LACTOBACILLUS-CASEI DN-114-001 STIMULATES GROWTH AND BRUSH-BORDER ENZYME-ACTIVITIES IN MOUSE SMALL-INTESTINE

The nutritional benefits of lactic acid bacteria in fermented dairy pr oducts have been well documented, especially in terms of weight gain a nd feed efficiency, but not in terms of small intestine adaptation. Th e effects of a diet supplemented (30% wt/wt) with milk fermented eithe r by Lactobacillus casei DN-114 001 or yoghurt for 3 or 15 days were i nvestigated in the small intestine of mice by morphometry, kinetic ana lysis and determination of brush-border enzyme activities. Results wer e compared with those obtained with standard or milk isocaloric diets. Cell proliferation and villous area were significantly increased in t he proximal intestine of mice fed the fermented-milk-supplemented diet s for 3 days and were associated with hypertrophy and hyperplasia of P aneth and goblet cells. Lactase-specific activity was increased by fer mented-milk diets at days 3 and 15, whereas there was no variation in maltase-specific activity. Alkaline phosphatase-specific activity was increased after 3 days of the three tested diets in the whole intestin e, and after 15 days in the proximal intestine. Aminopeptidase activit y was increased in the distal part of the intestine after 3 days of th e 3 diets. Our findings suggest that diets supplemented with fermented milks have a positive effect on the trophicity of the mucosa in the s mall intestine of mice.