FETAL INTESTINAL TRANSPLANT AS AN ACCESSORY ENTERAL SEGMENT

Fetal tissue transplantation has gathered considerable interest among researchers dealing with organ transplantation. A large number of stud ies concerning fetal intestinal transplantation have been published in the past 2 decades, almost all of them aiming to determine the feasib ility of a properly functioning fetal transplant in continuity with th e host's own enteral system. This study was designed to determine the absorptive capacity of the neogut in vivo, without anastomosing the tr ansplant to the host's intestine, and to evaluate its use as an access ory enteral segment. Intestinal segments taken from Wistar albino fetu ses were transplanted subcutaneously into the abdominal wall of 20 Spr ague-Dawley rats. Immunosuppression was maintained by daily cyclospori n A (Cy A) 10 mg/kg injections s.c. and evaluated by determination of serum Cy A level and T-helper/T-suppressor cell ratio. The neogut was converted into a Thiry-Vella loop 2 weeks after transplantation. A tes t solution composed of 20% glucose and Trophamine was perfused via the stomas; glucose and amino acid absorption gradients were calculated. The gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity and mitotic index of the neogut were determined. Results were compared to those obtained from the host. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in glucose ab sorption between the neogut and the host tissue. Amino acid absorption and specific GGT activity were significantly less (P < 0.01) in the n eogut. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between neogut a nd host intestine in mitotic index. Our data support the idea of using a transplanted fetal intestinal segment as an accessory feeding route .