Background & aims: An immune-modulating diet (IMD) comprising whey peptides and fermented milk products has produced anti-inflammatory effects in various animal models and has been employed in peri-operative nutritional care. It was investigated the effectiveness of an immune-modulating diet on indomethacin-induced small-bowel disorders.
Methods: Six-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a control diet (control group) or an IMD (IMD group) for 14 days. Thereafter, they were injected with 10 mg/kg/day indomethacin for 2 consecutive days to induce small-bowel disorders. The excretion rate of phenolsulfonphthalein in the urine, bacterial translocation (BT) in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and liver, the number of ulcers that formed in the small bowel, and the concentration of cytokines were measured.
Results: The IMD group exhibited significant suppression of increased permeability of the mucosa and decreased BT in the MLNs and liver compared with the control group. The immune-modulating diet group also showed a decrease in ulcer formation and lower concentrations of IL-6 in the ileal tissues compared with the control group.
Conclusions: These data suggest that the IMD had a protective effect on the small bowel, and may be effective nutritional care in patients with perioperative damage to the small intestine and gastrointestinal disorders.
Keywords: Bacterial translocation; Immune-modulating diet; Indomethacin; Interleukin-6; Intestinal mucosal permeability; Small-bowel disorders.
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