Morphometric and biomechanical remodeling of the small intestine during aging in rats

Mechanical experimentation of the gastrointestinal tract: a systematic review

The gastrointestinal (GI) organs of the human body are responsible for transporting and extracting nutrients from food and drink, as well as excreting solid waste. Biomechanical experimentation of the GI organs provides insight into the mechanisms involved in their normal physiological functions, as well as understanding of how diseases can cause disruption to these. Additionally, experimental findings form the basis of all finite element (FE) modelling of these organs, which have a wide array of applications within medicine and engineering. This systematic review summarises the experimental studies that are currently in the literature (n = 247) and outlines the areas in which experimentation is lacking, highlighting what is still required in order to more fully understand the mechanical behaviour of the GI organs. These include (i) more human data, allowing for more accurate modelling for applications within medicine, (ii) an increase in time-dependent studies, and (iii) more sophisticated in vivo testing methods which allow for both the layer- and direction-dependent characterisation of the GI organs. The findings of this review can also be used to identify experimental data for the readers' own constitutive or FE modelling as the experimental studies have been grouped in terms of organ (oesophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine or rectum), test condition (ex vivo or in vivo), number of directions studied (isotropic or anisotropic), species family (human, porcine, feline etc.), tissue condition (intact wall or layer-dependent) and the type of test performed (biaxial tension, inflation-extension, distension (pressure-diameter), etc.). Furthermore, the studies that investigated the time-dependent (viscoelastic) behaviour of the tissues have been presented.

Intestinal crypts recover rapidly from focal damage with coordinated motion of stem cells that is impaired by aging

Despite the continuous renewal and turnover of the small intestinal epithelium, the intestinal crypt maintains a 'soccer ball-like', alternating pattern of stem and Paneth cells at the base of the crypt. To study the robustness of the alternating pattern, we used intravital two-photon microscopy in mice with fluorescently-labeled Lgr5+ intestinal stem cells and precisely perturbed the mosaic pattern with femtosecond laser ablation. Ablation of one to three cells initiated rapid motion of crypt cells that restored the alternation in the pattern within about two hours with only the rearrangement of pre-existing cells, without any cell division. Crypt cells then performed a coordinated dilation of the crypt lumen, which resulted in peristalsis-like motion that forced damaged cells out of the crypt. Crypt cell motion was reduced with inhibition of the ROCK pathway and attenuated with old age, and both resulted in incomplete pattern recovery. This suggests that in addition to proliferation and self-renewal, motility of stem cells is critical for maintaining homeostasis. Reduction of this newly-identified behavior of stem cells could contribute to disease and age-related changes.

Low-residue diet fed to rabbits induces histomorphological and biomechanical remodeling of small intestine

BACKGROUND

The composition of ingested food is important for the gut microbiome and intestinal homeostasis. We have previously demonstrated that the structure and mechanical properties in the small intestine remodel significantly during fasting. However, it is not clear to what extent the intestinal mechanical properties changes when the composition of food is changed. This study aimed to investigate the passive biomechanical properties and intestinal tissue remodeling in rabbits fed a low-residue diet.

METHODS

New Zealand rabbits (control group n=6, intervention group n=7) were studied. Segments from duodenum, jejunum and ileum were excised. The intestinal diameter and length were obtained from digitized images of the segments at preselected luminal pressure levels and at no-load and zero-stress states. Circumferential and longitudinal stresses (force per area) and strains (deformation) were computed from the length, diameter and pressure data referenced to the zero-stress state geometry. Histomorphometric data were also obtained.

KEY RESULTS

The wet weight-per-unit length, wall thickness and wall area decreased in the intervention group (P<.05, P<.01). Histological measurement confirmed that the wall thickness decreased in all three segments, which was primarily due to mucosal thinning (P<.05). The opening angle tended to increase in all segments in the intervention group. Significant difference between the two groups was found for the jejunum (P<.05). Feeding the low-residue diet shifted the circumferential stress-strain curves in the intervention group to the right, indicating intestinal wall softening.

CONCLUSIONS & INFERENCES

Low-residue diet in rabbits for 1 month induces location-dependent histomorphometric and biomechanical remodeling of the intestine.

Age- and region-related changes in the biomechanical properties and composition of the human ureter

The ureter has been largely overlooked heretofore in the study of the biomechanics of soft biological tissues, although there has been significant motivation to use its biomechanical properties as inputs to mathematical models of ureteral function. Herein, we used histological analysis for quantification of collagen contents and thickness/area of ureteral layers, with concomitant geometrical analysis of zero-stress and no-load states, and inflation/extension testing to biomechanically characterize with the Fung-type model the ureters from cadavers. The effects of age and gender on the regional distribution of those properties were examined. Tissue properties did not differ (p>0.05) between the left and right ureter. Regional heterogeneity was established that was profoundly age-related but seldom gender-related, based on the following evidence: 1) In younger subjects, the axial stress-circumferential strain curves of upper ureter were shifted to smaller stresses and model parameter a₂ representing axial stiffness was smallest (p<0.05), i.e. upper ureter was the least stiff region axially; 2) upper ureter underwent axial stiffening with advanced age, evidenced by the increasing (p<0.05) parameter a₂, and the stress-strain curves were uniformly exhibited along the ureter, evidenced by the non-varying (p>0.05) parameters C,a₁,a₂,anda₄; 3) aging raised (p<0.05) the collagen content of upper ureter to favor a near-uniform regional distribution; 4) wall thickness increased with age, unlike the opening angle and residual strains, reflecting the thickening of outer (muscular) vs. inner (mucosal) layers in aged subjects, with significant differences (p<0.05) in some regions; and 5) gender affected little (p>0.05) the opening angle and morphometry of no-load and zero-stress states.