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Published on: October 1, 2007
Induction of gastric ornithine decarboxylase in early weaning rats
C H Lin1, H Lyons, M S Seelbach
1Department of Pediatrics, Wayne State University and Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, Mich., USA. lchuan@med.wayne.edu
Insights
Early weaning in rats significantly increases stomach ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and promotes gastric mucosal growth. This ODC induction serves as an early indicator of stomach development following early weaning.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Developmental Biology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Early weaning in rats is known to affect intestinal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and cell proliferation.
- However, the impact of early weaning on gastric ODC activity remained uninvestigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effect of early weaning on stomach ODC activity and related parameters in rats.
- To determine the role of ODC in the gastric mucosal growth induced by early weaning.
Main Methods:
- Rats were weaned on postnatal day 15 and stomach tissues were analyzed through day 21.
- Assays included ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity, DNA, protein, and pepsinogen.
- The ODC inhibitor alpha-difluoromethyl ornithine (DFMO) was administered to assess its effects.
Main Results:
- Early weaning led to significant increases in stomach mucosal weight, DNA, protein, and pepsinogen activity by day 6.
- Gastric ODC activity showed a marked increase, peaking on day 1 post-weaning.
- DFMO administration suppressed ODC activity and mucosal growth but did not affect pepsinogen levels.
Conclusions:
- Early weaning stimulates ODC activity and promotes functional growth in the rat stomach.
- Gastric ODC activity is crucial for mucosal growth but not differentiation.
- Induced stomach ODC activity can serve as an early marker for weaning-induced gastric mucosal growth.
Background/Aims:
Early weaning has been shown to induce intestinal ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activities and cell proliferation in rats. No information is available about the effect of early weaning on ODC activity in the stomach.
Methods:
Suckling rats were prematurely weaned on postnatal day 15 and followed through day 21. Oxyntic gland mucosa of stomach was obtained on postnatal days 15, 16, 18 and 21 (days 0, 1, 3 and 6 after early weaning) and assayed for ODC activity, DNA, protein and pepsinogen activity. alpha-Difluoromethyl ornithine (DFMO), a specific ODC inhibitor, was given orally to early-weaned pups and its resultant effects were assessed on days 1 and 6 after early weaning.
Results:
Stomach mucosal wet weight, DNA, protein and pepsinogen activities significantly increased on day 6 after early weaning. ODC activity increased on days 1, 3, and 6 after early weaning, with the highest increase (3-fold) on day 1 when compared to controls. The increases of ODC activity, DNA and protein contents as induced by early weaning were significantly suppressed when pups were exposed to DFMO. However, no suppression of pepsinogen activity was observed.
Conclusions:
Our study shows that early weaning induces ODC activity and functional growth in the stomach. Gastric ODC activity is essential in gastric mucosal growth processes but not in differentiation. The induction of stomach ODC may act as an early marker in the growth of stomach mucosa induced by early weaning in rats.
