AJP - Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, Vol 254, Issue 3 373-G377, Copyright © 1988 by American Physiological Society
Reduced mucosal prostaglandin synthesis after massive small bowel resection
J. A. Vanderhoof, J. H. Park and C. J. Grandjean
University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.
Exogenous 16,16-di-methyl-prostaglandin (PG) E2 administration augments
mucosal hyperplasia after massive small bowel resection in the rat. We,
therefore, evaluated the ability of aspirin to inhibit mucosal PG synthesis
in the small intestine and further evaluated the effects of reduced PG
synthesis on mucosal adaptation after a 70% jejunoileal resection in male
Sprague-Dawley rats. Sixteen of 27 resected and 8 of 16 sham-operated rats
were given aspirin 20 mg/kg body wt subcutaneously every 8 h for 12 days;
the remainder were given vehicle only. Although mucosal PGE2, PGF2 alpha,
and thromboxane B2 synthesis were all reduced by aspirin administration to
20-40% of the control values, mucosal adaptation in resected animals as
measured by mucosal weight, DNA, protein, and maltase levels was only
inhibited in the distal ileum. Aspirin did not affect these values in the
duodenum, the upper jejunum, and the midileum. This study provides evidence
for some involvement of endogenous PGs in regulation of the mucosal
adaptation process in the distal ileum after massive small bowel resection
in the rat. However, lack of inhibition more proximally suggests that
factors other than PGs are more important.
