Protein malnutrition and metronidazole induced intestinal bacterial translocation in rats

This study was designed to assess the effects of protein malnutrition (PM) associated with antibiotic on growth weight, cecal bacterial overgrowth and enterobacteria translocation. Eighteen Gnotobiotic young Wistar rats (135 ± 2.35 g) were treated orally with antibiotic and submitted to dietary restriction based on maize diet in order to determine gram-negative enteric overgrowth in the ceca, thereby promoting the translocation of these bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract. The control group (n= 6) was fed conventional diet, the malnourished rats (n= 6) were fed only maize (10 g/rat/day) and the metronidazole treated malnourished rats (n= 6) were fed only maize (10 g/rat/day) and treated orally with metronidazole (1 mg/ml) for 10 days. The PM associated or not with metronidazole increased the enteric bacilli populations in the ceca and promotes their translocation to the mesenteric lymph nodes. There was a direct relationship between cecal bacterial overgrowth, the numbers of viable enterobacteria of this strain present in the mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and protein malnutrition associated with metronidazole. This study provides confirmation that PM and PM associated with metronidazole decrease body weight and promotes cecal bacterial overgrowth and enterobacteria translocation in the MLN and liver.