ABSTRACT
Objective: The aim of this study was to understand whether or not the protective effect of green tea after fasting-induced damage in the Jejunal mucosa of rat is dependent on cell proliferation and the stimulation of specific growth factors
Materials and Methods: Sixty adult male Wistar rats were used in this study. The animals were divided randomly into 5 groups, with 12 in each group [G1-5]. The animals in G1 [control group] were fed a rat chow diet and water ad libitum. The animals in G2 [fasting group] were fasted for 3 days. The animals in the G3, G4, and G5 groups were fasted for 3 days as G2, but were given water [G3] green tea [G4], or a vitamin E [G5] solution, respectively, for another 7 days. The animals were euthanized, and the jejunum was removed and processed for histological and immunohistochemical analysis
Results: Compared to the G3 group, the Jejunal mucosa of G4 rats showed a 70.6% higher level [p < 0.001] of expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and 98% higher level [p - 0.0001] of the expression of transforming growth factor-[Jl [TGF-[31], whereas the level of fibroblast growth factor-1 [FGF-1] and insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1 ] expression was 22 and 1 1 % lower, respectively, in G4 animals as compared to G3 rats. These differences in the expression of FGF-1 and IGF-1 in G4 animals were not statistically significant
Conclusion: In this study, green tea repaired the fasting-induced damage in the Jejunal mucosa of rats, mainly by inducing a significant expression of TGF-|31 in the mUCOSa