TY - JOUR
T1 - Malnutrition induces gut atrophy and increases hepatic fat infiltration: studies in a pig model of childhood malnutrition
AU - Lykke Jensen, Mikkel
AU - Nielsen, Anne-Louise Hother
AU - Hansen, Christian Fink
AU - Friis, Henrik
AU - Mølgaard, Christian
AU - Michaelsen, Kim F.
AU - Briend, Andre
AU - Larsen, Torben
AU - Sangild, Per Torp
AU - Thymann, Thomas
N1 - CURIS 2013 NEXS 189
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Childhood malnutrition is a problem in developing countries, and pathological changes in digestive organs such as the intestine and liver are poorly understood. An animal model to study the progression of severe acute malnutrition could elucidate pathological changes in the intestine and liver. We sought to characterize growth and clinical changes during malnutrition related to structural and functional indices in the intestine and liver. Newly weaned piglets were given ad libitum access to a maize flour diet (MAIZE, n=9) or a nutritionally optimized reference diet (REFERENCE, n=12) for 7 weeks. Growth, hematology and clinical biochemistry where recorded weekly. After 7 weeks, the MAIZE pigs had lower body weights than the REF pigs (8.3 kg vs. 32.4 kg, P<0.001), indicating severe stunting and moderate to severe wasting. This was paralleled by lower values for hematocrit, hemoglobin and mean cell volume in MAIZE vs. REFERENCE (P<0.01), indicating anemia. Although the observed temporal changes in MAIZE were associated with atrophy of the small intestinal mucosa (P<0.001), digestive enzyme activity was only marginally reduced. Serum alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin and albumin were increased in the MAIZE pigs (P<0.001), and the liver had a vacuolated appearance and tendency toward increased triglyceride content (P=0.054). We conclude that liver and intestinal indices are compromised during malnutrition and are associated with temporal changes in growth and hematological and biochemical endpoints. The pig model is relevant for malnourished infants and can act as a valuable tool for understanding the pathophysiology of malnutrition.
AB - Childhood malnutrition is a problem in developing countries, and pathological changes in digestive organs such as the intestine and liver are poorly understood. An animal model to study the progression of severe acute malnutrition could elucidate pathological changes in the intestine and liver. We sought to characterize growth and clinical changes during malnutrition related to structural and functional indices in the intestine and liver. Newly weaned piglets were given ad libitum access to a maize flour diet (MAIZE, n=9) or a nutritionally optimized reference diet (REFERENCE, n=12) for 7 weeks. Growth, hematology and clinical biochemistry where recorded weekly. After 7 weeks, the MAIZE pigs had lower body weights than the REF pigs (8.3 kg vs. 32.4 kg, P<0.001), indicating severe stunting and moderate to severe wasting. This was paralleled by lower values for hematocrit, hemoglobin and mean cell volume in MAIZE vs. REFERENCE (P<0.01), indicating anemia. Although the observed temporal changes in MAIZE were associated with atrophy of the small intestinal mucosa (P<0.001), digestive enzyme activity was only marginally reduced. Serum alanine aminotransferase, bilirubin and albumin were increased in the MAIZE pigs (P<0.001), and the liver had a vacuolated appearance and tendency toward increased triglyceride content (P=0.054). We conclude that liver and intestinal indices are compromised during malnutrition and are associated with temporal changes in growth and hematological and biochemical endpoints. The pig model is relevant for malnourished infants and can act as a valuable tool for understanding the pathophysiology of malnutrition.
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1943-8141
VL - 5
SP - 543
EP - 554
JO - American Journal of Translational Research
JF - American Journal of Translational Research
IS - 5
ER -
