Effects of budesonide and probiotics enemas on the colonic mucosa of rats with experimental colitis.

PURPOSE: To investigate the effect of enemas containing probiotics and budesonide on the colonic mucosa in experimental colitis.

METHODS

Fifty male Wistar rats with experimental colitis induced by 10% acetic acid enema were randomized to five groups (10 rats each) according to the treatment: group 1--saline solution, group 2--budesonide (0.75 mg/kg/day), group 3--probiotics (1mg/day), group 4--probiotics plus budesonide, and group 5--control, with not-treated rats. The following variables were studied: body weight, macroscopic and microscopic score of the colonic mucosa, and DNA content of the mucosa.

RESULTS

All animals lost weight between the beginning and the end of the experiment (280+ 16 mg versus 249+21 mg, p< 0.001). There was no significant difference among the groups in relation to both the macroscopic and histological score. The budesonide + probiotic group showed higher DNA content than control group (1.24+ 0.15 versus 0.92+ 0.30 mg/100 mg of tissue, p=0.01).

CONCLUSION

Budesonide in addition to probiotics enhances the mucosal trophism in experimental colitis.