Failure of oral E. coli O83 lipopolysaccharide to influence intestinal morphology and cell proliferation in rats: short communication.

It is known that bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract in significant quantities. However, the question remained whether oral LPS modified the structure or function of the gut. In the present experiment Escherichia coli 083 LPS was administered to growing rats in repeated oral doses of 400 mg/kg body weight (b. w.), every 8 h. After three days of treatment, morphometric and histochemical examinations of the small intestine did not show significant differences between treated and control rats. It is concluded that repeated oral administration of high doses of E. coli 083 LPS had no demonstrable effect on intestinal structure and cell proliferation in a rat model.