Effect of different total parenteral nutrition fuel mixes on small intestinal growth and differentiation in the infant miniature pig.

Insulin has been proposed as an important factor in the regulation of growth and differentiation of the small intestine. In the newborn miniature pig, we induced significant physiologic increases in serum insulin and the insulin/glucagon ratio without altering serum glucose, beta-hydroxybutyrate, glucagon, cortisol, T3, and T4 using glucose-based total parenteral nutrition (TPN) in one group (group G) compared with a combination of glucose and fat in another group (group G/F). Control animals were sham-operated and fed a pelleted diet (group OC). Duodenal villus surface area and mucosal height were significantly greater in group G/F compared with group G. No other differences between the TPN groups were found in small intestinal growth, mucosal protein, deoxyribonucleic acid and ribonucleic acid content, and disaccharidase activities. As anticipated, group OC demonstrated increased intestinal length, weight, and villous surface area compared with the TPN groups. Ileal sucrase and jejunal and ileal maltase activities were greater in the TPN groups compared with those in group OC. Physiologic changes in serum insulin and the insulin/glucagon ratio induced by the TPN fuel mix do not appear to have altered small intestinal growth, composition, and differentiation in the healthy small intestine.