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Biomedical subjects

B Planas

Publications and source records attributed to B Planas.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Morphofunctional changes in gastrointestinal tract of rats due to cafeteria diet.

Female rats fed a cafeteria diet from birth developed obesity at 60 days of age and their stomach, small intestine and caecum were enlarged when compared with controls, i.e. these regions had greater food storage capacity. In spite of the enlargement, these regions had similar or reduced weight and linear density, which is seen as proof of reduced mechanical performances. Cafeteria diet produced increased glucose duodenal absorption in older animals unlike the typical reduction known in controls. Tryptophan absorption was maintained high in adulthood, compensating for the low structural nutritive properties of the cafeteria diet. The results are interpreted as an adaptation to the cafeteria diet effects and properties: the characteristic overeating of foodstuffs with greater energy density, lower mechanical requirements and lower structural nutritive value than pelleted chow.

Adaptation, Physiological

Effect of cafeteria diet on the gastrointestinal transit and emptying in the rat.

1. When gastrointestinal transit and emptying of intraluminal contents were studied using a radioactive tracer marker [( 14C]PEG-4000), the fastest gastric transit and the slowest overall transit time were observed in female Wistar rats (1-3 months old) after they were fed a cafeteria diet (a hypercaloric diet). 2. The small intestine length of cafeteria fed rats was higher than lean rats, whereas the stomach and large bowel length showed no difference between cafeteria and lean rats. 3. A state of mild obesity was obtained after rats were fed a cafeteria diet. This obesity was demonstrated by the highest body weight and the highest gain of white adipose tissue in rats fed a cafeteria diet.

Animals

A new precise microcomputer based rotometer.

The rotometer described here consists of a data acquisition system made of several reed relays which are activated by a small moving magnet when the animal performs rotations. The apparatus has an angular discrimination which is dependent on the number of reed relays used. A simple interface is used to normalize the pulses produced when the reed relay contacts are closed. This normalized output closes key contacts in the keyboard of a microcomputer resulting in ASCII strings. A simple BASIC program is used for computation of various turn fractions. The program also calculates the total number of movements over time, allowing the assessment of activity vs. time.

Amphetamines

Effect of thyroidal state on the gastrointestinal transit and emptying of young broilers.

1. In newly hatched broilers, propylthiouracil and thyroid powder added to the diet produced hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, respectively. After 4-5 days of treatment body and thyroid weight changed, but no differences in body temperature were found. 2. The hyperthyroidal animals had high mortality rate and the hypothyroidal ones showed significantly lower glycemia values. 3. The gastrointestinal transit and emptying of 8 and 15 days old hypo-, hyper- and euthyroidal broiler chicks were measured using 14C-PEG-4000 as a marker. 4. Hypothyroidism prolonged GI transit and emptying, whereas hyperthyroidism modified these parameters in a way dependent of the elapsed time after the test meal: at 0.5 and 1 hr transit and emptying were quick, but at 2 and 4 hr the transit was slow. 5. Hyperthyroidism also delayed the transit of large bowel intraluminal contents in 15-day-old chickens. 6. These results are very similar to those of starvation, suggesting an important interaction between diencephalon, thyroid gland and GI motility in young chickens.

Animals