Long term metabolic impact of high protein neonatal feeding: a preliminary study in male rat pups born with a low birth weight.

Background & Aims: Nutrition received in early life may impact adult health. The aim of the study was to determine whether high protein feeding in neonatal period would have long term metabolic effects in an animal model of low birth weight infants.

Methods: Male rat pups born from dams receiving a low protein diet during gestation were separated from their mothers, and equipped with gastrostomy tubes to receive as their sole feeding a milk formula of either adequate protein (AP; n = 14; 8.

Hypothalamus integrity and appetite regulation in low birth weight rats reared artificially on a high-protein milk formula.

High-protein (HP) milk formulas are routinely used in infants born with a low birth weight (LBW) to enhance growth and ensure a better verbal IQ development. Indirect evidence points to a link between an HP intake during early life and the prevalence of obesity in later life. We hypothesized that HP milk supplementation to LBW pups during early postnatal life would impact hypothalamic appetite neuronal pathways development with consequences, at adulthood, on energy homeostasis regulation.

Intrauterine growth restriction not only modifies the cecocolonic microbiota in neonatal rats but also affects its activity in young adult rats.

Objective: Elucidating why intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) predisposes to some intestinal pathologies would help in their prevention. Intestinal microbiota could be involved in this predisposition; its initial setup is likely to be altered by IUGR because IUGR delays perinatal intestinal development and strongly interacts with intestinal physiology. Furthermore, because initial colonization determines adult intestinal microbiota, an IUGR-induced defect in initial microbiota would have long-term consequences.

Functional food for pregnant, lactating women and in perinatal nutrition: a role for dietary fibres?

Purpose Of Review: If the benefits of dietary fibre in healthy adults have extensively been studied, little information is available on the specific needs of pregnant, lactating women or foetus. As far as infants are concerned, milk oligosaccharides are supposed to be the optimal 'dietary fibre'. The supplementation of infant formula with prebiotic oligosaccharides is still discussed.

Intrauterine growth restriction alters postnatal colonic barrier maturation in rats.

Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) is a leading cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity and increases the risk for necrotizing enterocolitis. We hypothesized that colonic barrier disruption could be responsible for intestinal frailty in infants and adults born with IUGR. Mucins and trefoil factor family 3 (TFF3) actively contribute to epithelium protection and healing.

Anti-inflammatory effects of Lactobacillus casei BL23 producing or not a manganese-dependant catalase on DSS-induced colitis in mice.

Background: Human immune cells generate large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) throughout the respiratory burst that occurs during inflammation. In inflammatory bowel diseases, a sustained and abnormal activation of the immune system results in oxidative stress in the digestive tract and in a loss of intestinal homeostasis. We previously showed that the heterologous production of the Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC14431 manganese-dependant catalase (MnKat) in Lb.

[Physiological role of mucins in the colonic barrier integrity].

Colonic mucus is a key element of colonic barrier as it is located at the frontier between luminal microflora and colonic mucosa itself. Colonic mucus is mainly composed of high molecular weight glycoproteins called mucins that can be either secreted or membrane-linked. The expression of various colonic mucins is altered in colorectal cancers or inflammations.

The VSL# 3 probiotic mixture modifies microflora but does not heal chronic dextran-sodium sulfate-induced colitis or reinforce the mucus barrier in mice.

The mucus layer covering the epithelium is one of the main lines of defense of the colonic barrier. Both mucus gel and mucin expressions are altered during colonic inflammation and could be involved in epithelial repair. We postulated that modulating colonic mucus and mucins by probiotic supplementation could contribute to healing inflammatory mucosa.

Butyrate regulation of glycosylation-related gene expression: evidence for galectin-1 upregulation in human intestinal epithelial goblet cells.

Glycosylation of mucins produced by human intestinal goblet cells plays a crucial role in their functions: mucus gel physico-chemical protective properties, host-bacteria interactions, cell-cell adhesion, cell migration, and cell signaling. Colonic mucin glycosylation can be modified by luminal metabolites of fiber fermentation like butyrate. Our aim was to assess the effect of butyrate on the expression of a large panel of glycosylation-related genes in human intestinal epithelial goblet cells HT29-Cl.