The effect of a valine-rich diet on intestinal adaptation to massive small bowel resection in the rat.

Background/purpose: Recently, valine, which is one of the branched chain amino acids, has been reported to enhance liver regeneration after hepatectomy in the rat. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of enteral valine supplementation on intestinal adaptation.

Materials/methods: Seven-week-old male Lewis rats underwent a 90% small bowel resection. The rats were randomly divided into two groups: group V (valine-rich diet) and group S (standard rat chow), according to the diet. The rats were sacrificed at the operation day and on postoperative days (POD) 7, 14, 30, and 60. The metrics were body weight (BW), blood amino acids, urine organic acids, and morphology of the residual small intestine.

Results: The BW and the intestinal wet weight, jejunal crypt depth, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen-positive cells in group V at POD 7 were significantly higher than those values in group S, while those in group V at POD 30 and 60 were smaller than those in group S. The urine methylmalonic acid (MMA) level in group V at POD 30 and 60 was much higher than in group S.

Conclusion: Valine enhanced intestinal adaptation after massive small bowel resection in the acute phase. However, the long-term supplementation disturbed intestinal adaptation, which might be due to the high production of MMA.