Studies of gut mucosal protein synthesis in a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) model of inflammatory bowel disease.

The extent to which defects in protein synthesis occurred in an experimental indomethacin induced rat model of nonsteroidal enteropathy has been examined. Male rats (nine) were fed indomethacin (8 mg/kg/day) for three days mixed with a powdered form of chow. The control group of rats (nine) were fed the same diet for three days without indomethacin. After the feeding period, both groups were fed a normal solid diet for four days. At the end of this period, the fractional rates of intestinal protein synthesis was determined by the 'flooding dose' technique. The mucosal protein, RNA and DNA contents in the proximal ileum of animals with enteropathy were not significantly different from controls (p greater than 0.05). Experimental enteropathy induced selective increases in the fractional rates of protein synthesis (26% increase, p less than 0.03) and RNA activities (23% increase, p less than 0.04). There were no significant changes in any of these variables in the duodenum (p greater than 0.05 in all instances). These changes may partly reflect the activity of those processes responsible for the pathogenic changes in NSAID enteropathy.