title: Protective effect of lactosucrose on intracolonic indomethacin-induced small-intestinal ulcers in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Little is known about the role of intestinal microflora in the development of indomethacin-induced enteropathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of lactosucrose, an indigestible oligosaccharide, on intestinal microflora and on indomethacin-induced enteropathy in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Wistar rats were fed either sucrose (SC) or lactosucrose (LS) for 2 weeks. Indomethacin (24 mg/kg/ day) was administered into the colon twice, 24 h apart, and intestinal ulcers in SC and LS groups were compared macroscopically. In another experiment the bacterial composition in the mid-small-intestinal segment was determined in both groups before and after treatment with indomethacin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After indomethacin treatment small-intestinal ulcers were less severe in the LS than in the SC group (ulcer index: median, 0.13 (range, 0.05-0.19) versus 0.23 (0.13-0.34); P < 0.05). Total bacterial count did not differ significantly between the two groups. Indomethacin increased the number of Enterobacteriaceae in both groups, but the increase was less in the LS group. The number of streptococci was also significantly increased in the SC group but not in the LS group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that LS has some protective effects on indomethacin-induced enteropathy and that this protective effect is in part due to the maintenance of intestinal microflora.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medicine, Kawasaki Medical School, Okayama, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sawatani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000633:toxicity*; D007213:Indomethacin / Q000633:toxicity*; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014312:Trisaccharides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014456:Ulcer / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D014312:Trisaccharides; C081752:galactosucrose; D007213:Indomethacin