SUMMARY
Effect oflactose induced diarrhea on macronutrients digestibility and immune function in well-nourished a undernourished rats
Effect oflactose induced diarrhea on macronutrients digestibility and immune function in well-nourished a undernourished rats. In this study we compared the availability nutrients in a balanced diet offered to young well-nourished and undemourished Sprague Dawley rats, with and without diarrhea. Malnutrition was induced by restricting food intake (50%) in on half of the rats for 2 weeks and diarrhea was induced by including 45% lactose in the diet after malnutrition had been established. During the experiment which lasted 8 d the animals were kept on the same feeding protocol but one half of the nourished and one half of undernourished received lactose to induce diarrhea. The results showed that the inclusion of lactose at 45% in the diet caused a severe diarrhea both in the nourished and undernourished rats. This diarrhea however, resulted in a reduction in food intake and growth only in well-nourished rats. In the rats with diarrhea the apparent digestibility of the diet and of its macronutrients decreased compared with the animals without diarrhea but this reduction was less apparent in undemourished rats. Similar results were obtained in relation to the retention of nitrogen and energy. In this case, diarrhea was associated with retentions which were lower than those seen in the rats without diarrhea but the undemourished rats with diarrhea retained more energy than the well-nourished rats with diarrhea. Malnutrition resulted in lower packed cell volume, leukocyte count and thyms weight but diarrhea in the malnourished rats did not cause a further reduction in these variables as it did in the well-nourished animals. In general, these results indicate that in well-nourished rats, diarrhea had a negative effect whereas in the undemourished group it did not. It appears that the undemourished rats compensated their nutrient utilization so that diarrhea did not worsen their undernourished condition.

Key words: Diarrhea, immune response, lactase, macronutrient absorption, nutritional status.



Recibido: 31/03/1998
Aceptado: 25/10/1999

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