Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T06:07:38.491Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Riboflavin deficiency: early effects on post-weaning development of the duodenum in rats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Catherine A Yates ,
Gareth S. Evans  and
Hilary J. Powers
Catherine A Yates
Affiliation:
The Institute of Child Health, Sheffield Children's Hospital, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK
Gareth S. Evans
Affiliation:
The Institute of Child Health, Sheffield Children's Hospital, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK
Hilary J. Powers*
Affiliation:
The Centre for Human Nutrition, The University of Sheffield, The Northern General Hospital, Sheffield S5 7AU, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Dr. H. J. Powers, fax +44 114 261 0112, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The aim of this present study was to identify the earliest point at which riboflavin deficiency affects post-weaning bowel development in rats. After weaning, eighty Wistar rats were weight-matched as pairs, one animal being fed a normal synthetic diet and the other being fed the same diet but deficient in riboflavin. Body weight, feeding and rates of growth were monitored and eight pairs of animals were taken for analysis at 45, 69, 93, 117 and 141 h. Riboflavin status was monitored by determining the erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation coefficient (EGRAC), and hepatic flavins were measured by a fluorescence assay. Changes to the number and dimensions of villi and crypts in the duodenum were determined, as well as crypt division (bifurcation) and the DNA synthesis index of the crypt epithelium by bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) labelling. Riboflavin deficiency was established in the experimental rats, as demonstrated by a significant increase in EGRAC after 45 h (P<0·001) and decreased liver flavins after 96 h (P<0·001). After 96 h a significant increase in the size and cellularity of the crypts (P<0·001 in both cases) was seen in these riboflavin-deficient animals, with a decreased incidence of bifurcating crypts and of BrdU-labelled cells. No changes to villus number or size were observed. The present study has demonstrated that developmental changes to the duodenal crypt arise shortly after circulating riboflavin measurements show evidence of deficiency. These changes primarily affect cell proliferation and crypt bifurcation, and precede long-term changes such as the reduction of villus number.

Keywords

Riboflavin deficiencyDuodenumProliferationMorphogenesis
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 86 , Issue 5 , November 2001 , pp. 593 - 599
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2001

References

Referenses

Bamji, MS (1981) Enzymatic riboflavin and pyridoxine deficiencies in young Indian women suffering from different grades of glossitis. Nutrition Reports International 24, 649–658.Google Scholar
Bessey, OA, Lowry, OH & Love, RH (1949) The fluorimetric measurement of the nucleotides of riboflavin and their concentrations in tissues. Journal of Biological Chemistry 180, 755–769.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brun, TA, Chen, J, Campbell, TC, Boreham, J, Feng, Z, Parpia, B, Shen, TF & Li, M (1990) Urinary riboflavin excretion after a load test in rural China as a measure of possible riboflavin deficiency. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 44, 195–206.Google ScholarPubMed
Buts, JP & DeMeyer, R (1984) Intestinal development in the suckling rat: effects of weaning, diet composition, and glucocorticoids on thymidine kinase activity and DNA synthesis. Pediatric Research 18, 145–150.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Buts, JP & Nyakabasa, M (1985) Role of dietary protein adaptation at weaning in the development of the rat gastrointestinal tract. Pediatric Research 19, 857–862.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clarke, RM (1972) The effect of growth and fasting on the number of villi and crypts in the small intestine of the albino rat. Journal of Anatomy 112, 27–33.Google ScholarPubMed
Duerden, JM & Bates, CJ (1985) Effect of riboflavin deficiency on reproductive performance and on biochemical indices of riboflavin status in rats. British Journal of Nutrition 53, 97–105.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dyer, J, Barker, PJ & Shirazi-Beechey, SP (1997) Nutrient regulation of the intestinal Na+/glucose co-transporter (SGLT1) gene expression. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 230, 624–629.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Forrester, JM (1972) The number of villi in the rats jejunum and ileum: Effect of normal growth, partial enterectomy, and tube feeding. Journal of Anatomy 111, 283–291.Google ScholarPubMed
Glatzle, D, Korner, WF, Christellens, S & Wiss, O (1970) Method for the detection of a biochemical riboflavin deficiency. Stimulation of NADPH2-dependent glutathione reductase from human erythrocytes by FAD in vitro. Investigation into the vitamin b2 status in healthy people and geriatric patients. International Journal of Vitamin Research 40, 166–183.Google Scholar
Goodlad, RA & Wright, NA (1990) Changes in intestinal cell proliferation, absorptive capacity and structure in young, adult, and old rats. Journal of Anatomy 173, 109–118.Google ScholarPubMed
Henning, SJ & Guerin, DM (1981) Role of diet in the determination of jejunal sucrase activity in the weanling rat. Pediatric Research 15, 1068–1072.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henning, SJ, Helman, TA & Kretchmer, N (1975) Studies on normal and precocious appearance of jejunal sucrase in suckling rats. Biology of the Neonate 26, 249–262.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lanzkowsky, P, Karayalcin, G & Miller, F (1982) Disaccharidase levels in iron deficient rats at birth and during the nursing and postweaning periods: response to iron treatment. Pediatric Research 16, 318–323.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olpin, SE & Bates, CJ (1982 a) Lipid metabolism in riboflavin-deficient rats. 1. Effect of dietary lipids on riboflavin status and fatty acid profiles. British Journal of Nutrition 47, 577–588.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olpin, SE & Bates, CJ (1982 b) Lipid metabolism in riboflavin-deficient rats. 2. Mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and the microsomal desaturation pathway. British Journal of Nutrition 47, 589–596.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parsons, HG & Dias, VC (1991) Intramitochondrial fatty acid metabolism riboflavin deficiency and energy production. Biochemical Cell Biology 69, 490–497.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ponder, B, Schmidt, GH, Wilkinson, MM, Wood, MM, Monk, M & Reid, A (1985) Derivation of mouse intestinal crypts from single progenitor cells. Nature 313, 689–691.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potton, CS & Hendry, JH (1985) The microcolony assay in mouse small intestine. In Cell Clones: Manual of Mammalian Cell Techniques, pp. 50–61. Edinburgh: Churchill-Livingstone.Google Scholar
Potten, CS & Loeffler, M (1990) Stem cells: attributes, cycles, spirals, pitfalls, and uncertainties. Lessons for and from the crypt. Development 110, 1001–1020.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Powers, HJ, Bates, CJ & Duerden, JM (1983) Effects of riboflavin deficiency in rats on some aspects of iron metabolism. International Journal of Vitamin Research 53, 371–376.Google ScholarPubMed
Powers, HJ, Bates, CJ & Lamb, WH (1985) Haematological response to supplements of iron and riboflavin to pregnant and lactating women in rural Gambia. Human Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition 39C, 117–129.Google Scholar
Powers, HJ, Weaver, LT, Austin, S, Wright, AJA & Fairweather-Tait, SJ (1991) Riboflavin deficiency in the rat: effects on iron utilization and loss. British Journal of Nutrition 65, 487–496.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomson, AM, Keelan, M, Garg, M & Clandinin, MT (1989) Evidence for critical period programming of intestinal transport function: variations in the dietary ratio of polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids alters ontogeny of the small intestine. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1001, 302–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tillotson, JA & Baker, EM (1972) An enzymatic measurement of the riboflavin status of man. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 25, 425–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Totafurno, J, Bjerknes, M & Cheng, H (1987) The crypt cycle. Crypt and villus production in the adult intestinal epithelium. Biophysical Journal 52, 2792–2794.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, EA, Powers, HJ & Rumsey, RDE (1995) Morphological changes in the rat small intestine in response to riboflavin depletion. British Journal of Nutrition 73, 141–146.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, EA, Powers, HJ & Rumsey, RDE (1996 a) An investigation into the reversibility of the morphological and cytokinetic changes seen in the small intestine of riboflavin deficient rats. Gut 39, 220–225.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Williams, EA, Rumsey, RDE & Powers, HJ (1996 b) Cytokinetic and structural responses of the rat small intestine to riboflavin depletion. British Journal of Nutrition 75, 315–324.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wynford-Thomas, D & Williams, ED (1986) Use of bromodeoxyuridine for cell kinetic studies in intact animals. Cell Tissue Kinetics 19, 179–182.Google ScholarPubMed
Younoszai, MK & Ranshaw, J (1974) Gastrointestinal growth in normal male and female rats. Growth 38, 225–235.Google ScholarPubMed