title: Probiotics protect the intestinal wall of morphological changes caused by malnutrition.
abstract: This study sought to morphometrically analyze the jejunal wall of protein-malnourished rats administered a probiotic supplement. The sample consisted of recently weaned Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) distributed among four groups: animals given a commercial diet (G1, n = 4); animals given the same ration as G1 plus a probiotic supplement (G2, n = 4); animals given a 4% protein diet (G3, n = 4); and animals given the same ration as G3 plus a probiotic supplement (G4, n = 4). After 12 weeks, part of the jejunum was harvested and subjected to routine histological processing. Transverse sections with a thickness of 3 µm were stained with HE, and histochemical techniques were used to assay for glycoconjugates, including staining with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) + diastase, Alcian Blue (AB) solution at pH 2.5, and Alcian Blue solution at pH 1.0. Morphometric analysis of the bowel wall showed that the probiotic culture used in this study induced hypertrophy of several layers of the jejunal wall in well-nourished animals and reduced the bowel wall atrophy usually observed in protein-malnourished animals. Neither malnutrition nor the use of probiotics altered the relationship between the number of goblet cells and the number of enterocytes.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Faculdades Associadas de Ariquemes/FAAR, Ariquemes, RO, Brasil.
authors.forename: Jorge F de
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Azevedo
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul/UFMS, Coxim, MS, Brasil.
authors.forename: Catchia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hermes-Uliana
authors.affiliation: Programa em Ciência Animal, Universidade Paranaense/UNIPAR, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Dirlene P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Morfológicas, Universidade Estadual de Maringá/UEM, Maringá, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Débora M G
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Sant'ana
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrição, Universidade Paranaense/UNIPAR, Umuarama, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Histologia, Universidade Estadual de Londrina/UEL, Londrina, PR, Brasil.
authors.forename: Eduardo J A
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Araújo
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006651:Histocytochemistry; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D019936:Probiotics / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000473:pathology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D014886:Weaning