title: Morphological changes in the oesophagus of newborn pigs: effects of age, diet and oral insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) or IGF-II.
abstract: It has been reported in the literature that the stomach and the intestine in newborns undergo profound growth and functional maturation during the immediate postnatal period and diet ingestion has a significant impact on these changes. The present paper examines oesophageal development in newborn pigs during the first three postnatal days and the effects of diet and oral insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) or IGF-II on oesophageal morphology. It was observed that marked changes, including reduction in thickness of the epithelium, accelerated proliferation and migration of basal epithelial cells and increased accumulation of mucus in the glandular cells, occurred during the first postnatal day following onset of natural suckling. Bottle-feeding with various liquid diets (i.e. porcine colostrum, bovine colostrum, bovine milk, and infant milk formula), induced marked morphological changes which were similar to those induced by natural suckling. However, bottle-feeding with water did not result in marked reduction in the thickness of the epithelium nor did it accelerate basal epithelial cell proliferation and migration. Oral IGF-I, but not IGF-II, increased basal epithelial cell proliferation up to 81%. Owing to a large inter-animal variation, the increment did not reach a significant level (P = 0.071). The results suggest that chemical constituents in the diet and physical stimulation of food ingestion, which cause sloughing off of luminal surface tissue, are two major stimuli or epithelial cell proliferation in the new born oesophagus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Hong Kong.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Mellor
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Birtles
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Reynolds
authors.forename: H V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Simpson
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Breier
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Gluckman
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000375:Aging / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine / Q000378:metabolism; D002417:Cattle; D004848:Epithelium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D004947:Esophagus / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D007335:Insulin-Like Growth Factor II; D001973:Bromodeoxyuridine