INTEGRATED INTESTINAL CAPACITY AND NUTRITIONAL-STATUS FOLLOWING SMALL-BOWEL TRANSPLANTATION

Successful small bowel transplantation requires normal functional capa city of the graft and unaltered metabolism of the host. Weight gain an d wet weight of muscle groups and intra-abdominal fat pads were compar ed between transplanted, sham-operated, short bowel-operated, and norm al rats that were fed either standard chow or fat-enriched (15 %) pell ets. Weight gain and wet weight of muscle groups and fat pads for the control, transplanted, and sham-operated rats were identical, while sh ort bowel animals showed reduced weight. Transplanted rats receiving f at-enriched food had lower wet weight of fat pads than control animals on the high-fat diet. We conclude that small bowel transplantation ma kes it possible to overcome the intestinal failure associated with sho rt bowel syndrome, leading to overall normal weight gain and developme nt of the recipient. However, altered fat metabolism, reflected in cha nged body composition, was observed in transplanted animals on the hig h-fat diet.