BACKGROUND: The objective of this paper was to study the role of the dietetic fiber (Plantago ovata) in the protection and recovery of the intestinal wall of rats submitted to acetic acid induced inflammatory colitis. METHODS: 30 Wistar male rats were studied, weighing between 260 and 300g, divided in three groups of 10 individuals. The distribution of the groups was made as follows: Group I (n 10), named control group, received a standard diet during the whole experiment. Group II (n 10), named colitis group, received an equally standard diet during the whole experiment and 8% acetic acid that induced inflammatory colitis. Group III (n 10), named colitis + fiber, received a standard diet with addition of dietetic fiber ( 10 g of seeds and peels of Plantago ovata for each 90 g of standard diet) and 8% acetic acid that induced inflammatory colitis. The experiment lasted 21 days and the inflammatory colitis induction was introduced on the fourteenth day in groups II and III. Twenty-one days after the start of the experiment the animals were sacrificed and total colectomies were performed. The specimens were submitted to stereologic and histological analysis, and they statistically evaluated by the Mann-Whitney test. The weight variation of the animals was also measured during the experiment. The studied parameters were: mucosa, muscularis mucosa, submucosa, lamina propria, epithelial and proper epithelial layer partial volumes. CONCLUSION: The results, through stereologic, histological and weight analysis, lead us to conclude that the addition of Plantago ovata (dietetic fiber) prevents the alterations caused by the 8% acetic acid induced colitis in the experimental animals.
Dietary fiber; Dietary fiber; Colitis; Acetic acid; Wistar rats
