NEURONAL HYPERTROPHY IN RAT COLON CAUSED BY PROTEIN DEFICIENCY

The effects of different protein levels associated with vitamin deprivation have also been evaluated on tissues of high and low cell renewal. This study aimed to investigate the effects of available diet with 4% protein content associated with the maintenance of vitamin levels on the morphology of NADPH dp+ myenteric neurons of rats' descending colon. Sixteen animals were randomly distributed into two groups, one that was fed with chow with 26% protein content (CG), and the other was fed with a 4% protein content diet (EG) during 12 weeks. Total preparations were utilized to make the myenteric plexus neurons of the descending colon evident when submitted to NADPH-diaphorase. The cellular bodies and nucleus of 300 neurons from each animal was measured. The diet with 4% protein and maintenance of vitamin and mineral content, similar to the ones found in normal protein diets, causes metabolic alterations that result in body weight loss. The myenteric neurons of the descending colon have non-significant reduction in the nucleus size whereas the cytoplasm presents a significant increase of the area. The importance of vitamin maintenance and the increase of the neuronal area is discussed as a possible compensating mechanism to keep the neurotransmitter synthesis