Epithelial permeability is not increased in rats following small bowel resection

Background. Increased intestinal permeability and translocation of bacteria and/or bacterial products may cause infection and liver dysfunction in pat ients with the short bowel syndrome. In previous studies, serum from mice u ndergoing small bowel resection (SBR) enhanced growth of cultured rat intes tinal epithelial cells (RIEC-6), implicating a role for a serum factor(s) i n the enterocyte response to SBR. These experiments tested the hypothesis t hat epithelial cell permeability is increased following SBR. Materials and methods. Male Sprague-Dawley rats underwent a 75% SBR or sham operation. Intestinal permeability in the remnant ileum was determined by Ussing chambers on Postoperative Day (POD) 3. Additionally, serum was colle cted on POD 1, 3, and 7 and mesenteric lymph was harvested on POD 3. Once c onfluent, RIEC-6 cells were incubated for 3 days in media supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS; control), 1% FBS, 1% FBS plus 9% Sham serum, or 1% FBS plus 9% SBR serum or exposed to media with varied concentrations of SBR or Sham lymph. Monolayer permeability was determined by measuring th e passage of dextran-rhodamine. Results. Intestinal permeability was reduced in rats undergoing SBR. Sham s erum-treated monolayers demonstrated the greatest permeability. Incubation with SBR serum reduced permeability to near control media. There were no pe rmeability differences between SBR and Sham lymph-treated monolayers. Conclusion. The early adaptive response of the remnant intestine after SBR is associated with reduced permeability. These results suggest an alternati ve mechanism for the increased bacterial translocation that has been descri bed following SBR. (C) 2001 Academic Press.