Intestinal epithelium regeneration in rats receiving methotrexate and a trial of regulating this regeneration with pentagastrin and glucagon.

The study was carried out in three groups of rats: group I of 36 rats received methotrexate, group II of 36 rats were given methotrexate, pentagastrin and glucagon, group III of 12 rats served as control. For histological examination the ileum was taken from the animals killed on days 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 9 after the last injection of methotrexate. Besides histological examinations the mitotic index and the number of cells in crypt longitudinal-section were determined.