The relationship between hepatocytes and small bowel after early and short food restriction: What the results show in morphometry.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the relationship between hepatocyte morphometry and small bowel architecture after early and short food restriction. Altogether 48 Hyplus broiler rabbits were divided into three groups. The control group was fed ad libitum (ADL) throughout the experiment (C). The first group were food-restricted between 32 and 39 days of age, when the rabbits received 50g of food per rabbit each day (R1). The second group was restricted between 32 and 39 days and the rabbits received 65g of food per rabbit each day (R2). In 39 and in 81 days eight rabbits from all three groups were euthanized. The diameter of centrilobular, midzonal and periportal hepatocytes and the height of villi, the width of villi and the crypt depth were measured. The hepatocytes grew from centrilobular to perilobular part in the C group, but in the R1 and R2 group, an opposite trend was noticed. On day 39 and daye 81 the elevations of villi were the highest. Interestingly, the nadirs of the crypts were deepest in the C group compared to the R1 and R2 groups. Early short intensive food restriction may play a role in the prevention of liver diseases (Tab. 2, Ref. 20).