BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the intraluminal effects of short chain fatty acids (SCFA) on the healing of defunctioned colon and in the presence of faecal loading in rats. METHODS: Fifty adult Wistar rats were divided in four groups. Two of them, twenty six rats, were submitted to Hartmann's procedure (HC - Hartmann Control - and HSCFA - Hartmann SCFA) and colonic anastomosis were performed in the other two groups (AC - Anastomosis Control - and ASCFA - Anastomosis SCFA). The control groups (HC and AC) received rectal infusions of saline, while the experimental groups (HSCFA and ASCFA) received the same kind of infusion but with an isosmolar solution of sodium butyrate at 80mmol/l (SCFA). The animals were sacrificed at the 7th and 14th postoperative day. Histologic preparations with sirius red staining were performed to analyse the collagen densitometry by optic microscopy with a polarized light. Collagen I, collagen III and total collagen were quantified by a computer software. RESULTS: In the groups submitted to Hartman's operation - with bowel rest - the animals submitted to rectal infusions of SCFA showed an increase in the quantity of total and collagen I. Evaluating the groups submitted to colonic anastomosis - with interference of intraluminal bulk - there was an increase in collagen I in the experimental group. The interference of the diet bowel content in the healing process, with or without SCFA rectal infusions, was analyzed crossing the groups of different surgical procedures. CONCLUSION: The main effect of rectal infusions of SCFA was related to the collagen I, either with or without interference of the intestinal bulk. The presence of diet bowel content also increased the collagen production.
Fatty acids, volatile; Wound healing; Colon; Collagen; Anastomosis, surgical
