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Updated: Aug 18, 2026
Orthotopic Small Bowel Transplantation in Rats
Published on: November 6, 2012
Immunosuppressive effect of nucleoside-nucleotide-free diet in rat allogeneic small intestinal transplantation
1Department of Pediatric Surgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan. ogita@pedsurg.med.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Background:
We evaluated the effects of nucleosides (NS) and nucleotides (NT) on the rejection of rat allogeneic small intestinal transplants.
Methods:
A 2-cm segment of jejunum from fetal Fischer rats (RT-1(lvl)) was transplanted at day 19 of gestation into the abdominal wall of 7-week-old Lewis rats (RT-1(l)) by a nonvascular technique. Two weeks before transplantation, recipient rats were separated into an NS-NT-free group and an NS-NT-supplemented group. At 2 days after transplantation, histologic study of the grafts was performed with hematoxylin-eosin staining and interleukin-2 (IL-2) production estimated in recipient blood using an ELISA method. The morphologic findings were graded in a blind fashion on a scale of 0 to 4, with 0 indicating an intact intestinal structure.
Results:
Mean plasma IL-2 levels of the NS-NT-free group were significantly lower than those of the NS-NT-supplemented group. The mean rejection score of the NS-NT-free group was also significantly lower than that of the NS-NT-supplemented group.
Conclusions:
Administration of an NS-NT-free diet reduces acute rejection in rat small intestinal transplantations.
