Neurophysiology Unit, Rambam Health Care Campus, Haifa, Israel.
Rappaport Family Faculty of Medicine, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel.
Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2019 Sep;44(9):985-989. doi: 10.1139/apnm-2018-0454. Epub 2019 Jan 28.
Weaning of mammalian progeny is associated with a change in food composition and mother-offspring separation. Weaning results in a critical period of low voluntary feed intake, during which the animal is adapting to the starter diet. To evaluate the effects of weaning age on morphological changes that occur in the intestines of rats, we assessed intestinal histomorphometry and somatic growth in 21-days-old pups and 90-days-old mature rats that had been weaned early (day 16), normally (day 21), or late (day 26). Early weaning resulted in deeper crypts, lower villous/crypt ratio, and a smaller villous area on day 21. Crown-tail length correlated positively with the crypt depth and negatively with the villous/crypt ratio. At age 90 days, early weaned animals had shallower crypts, a greater villous/crypt ratio, and a smaller villous area compared with their normally weaned counterparts. The rats' crown-tail length correlated negatively with the crypt depth and positively with the villous/crypt ratio. Early weaning significantly affects the intestinal mucosa, which may impact food absorption and lead to differences in somatic growth compared with late weaning. Over time there may be a phase of compensation with increased villus height and crypt depth.
哺乳动物幼仔的离乳与食物组成的变化和母婴分离有关。离乳导致了一个关键的低自愿采食量时期，在此期间，动物正在适应起始饲料。为了评估离乳年龄对大鼠肠道发生的形态变化的影响，我们评估了在 21 天大的幼仔和 90 天大的已提前（第 16 天）、正常（第 21 天）或延迟（第 26 天）离乳的成熟大鼠的肠道组织形态计量学和体生长。早期离乳导致 21 天时隐窝更深、绒毛/隐窝比值更低以及绒毛面积更小。冠尾长度与隐窝深度呈正相关，与绒毛/隐窝比值呈负相关。在 90 日龄时，与正常离乳的大鼠相比，早期离乳的动物具有更浅的隐窝、更高的绒毛/隐窝比值和更小的绒毛面积。大鼠的冠尾长度与隐窝深度呈负相关，与绒毛/隐窝比值呈正相关。早期离乳会显著影响肠道黏膜，这可能会影响食物吸收，并导致与晚期离乳相比在体生长方面出现差异。随着时间的推移，可能会出现一个绒毛高度和隐窝深度增加的补偿阶段。
