Evaluation of the number of goblet cells in crypts of the colonic mucosa with and without fecal transit.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the thickness of the crypts and quantify the number of goblet cells of the colonic mucosa with and without intestinal transit, relating them to exclusion time.


METHODS
Sixty Wistar rats were divided into three groups of 20 animals each according to the time of the final operation for the removal of the colon, in six, 12 or 18 weeks. In each group 15 animals underwent colonic exclusion by left colon proximal colostomy and distal mucous fistula, and five underwent only laparotomy (control). The colons with and without fecal stream were removed, processed and submitted to histological sections stained with hematoxylin-eosin. The height of the colonic crypts and the number of goblet cells were measured by computerized morphometry. We used the Student t test and Kruskal-Wallis test for comparison and analysis of variance, using a significance level of 5% (p <0.05).


RESULTS
The height of the crypts decreased in segments without fecal stream (p =0.0001), reducing from six to 12 weeks of exclusion (p = 0.0003), stabilizing thereafter. The number of goblet cells in the crypts was smaller in segments without transit after 12 and 18 weeks (p = 0.0001), but increased as the time of exclusion progressed (p = 0.04)


CONCLUSIONS
The exclusion of intestinal transit decreases the thickness of the colonic crypts and the number of goblet cells in the segments without transit. There is an increased number of goblet cells in the course of time exclusion.
Post-Graduation Program in Health Sciences of São Francisco University, Bragança Paulista county, and Laboratory of Medical-Surgical Research, Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Rodrigo de Oliveira
Rde O
Mello
Camila Morais Gonçalves da
CM
Silva
Fábio Piovezan
FP
Fonte
Daniele Luchinitz Ferraz
DL
Silva
José Aires
JA
Pereira
Nelson Fontana
NF
Margarido
Carlos Augusto Real
CA
Martinez
D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D003106:Colon / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology*; D005243:Feces; D020397:Goblet Cells; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar