Two weeks of oral synthetic E2 prostaglandin (Enprostil) improves the intestinal morphological but not the absorptive response in the rat to abdominal irradiation.

Enprostil, a synthetic E2 prostaglandin, was administered in a dose of 5 micrograms/kg body weight by gastric tube to rats for 14 days following abdominal irradiation with a single dose of 600 cGy from a 137Cs source. Enprostil prevented the body weight loss and the reduced food intake observed in irradiated animals given placebo, and also prevented the irradiation-associated decline in the mucosal weight and surface area of the ileum. Enprostil given to nonirradiated animals reduced the maximal transport rate (Vmax) and the apparent Michaelis constant (Km*) for the ileal uptake of D-glucose, but did not prevent the irradiation-associated decline in the ileal uptake of glucose. Thus, there is a dissociation of the effects of Enprostil on the morphological and the absorptive properties of the intestine. It is concluded that a 2-week course of a daily oral dose of E2 prostaglandin begun shortly after a single exposure to nonlethal abdominal irradiation prevents the radiation-associated reduction in the intestinal mucosal surface area and the animal's body weight, but does not prevent the malabsorption of glucose.