Effects of certain dietary fibers on apparent permeability of the rat intestine.

Apparent intestinal permeability was determined indirectly by orally administering a poorly absorbed dye, phenol red, to rats and measuring its recovery in feces and in urine. Increased apparent permeability was recognized by increased dye recovery in urine and by an increased ratio of urinary to fecal dye recovery. Guar gum, pectin, carrageenan type I (80% kappa, 20% lambda), carrageenan type II (iota) and cellulose were each fed at levels of 5 and 15% (wt/wt) of the diet for 31 d to male Fischer 344 rats. The average initial weight of rats was 230 g. Rats fed 15% guar gum gained significantly less weight than most of the other rats (P less than 0.05). Phenol red recovery was measured at 2 and 4 wk after the beginning of the experiment. At 2 wk urinary recoveries of phenol red were high in rats fed fiber-free and carrageenan type II diets, indicating increased apparent permeability. By 4 wk, adaptation had apparently taken place. Urinary dye recoveries were lower in every diet group, and most fiber-containing diet groups gave significantly lower recoveries than did the fiber-free group. Fecal recovery of phenol red was high in the cellulose, carrageenan I, and 5% carrageenan II groups, intermediate in the 5% pectin and 15% carrageenan II groups, and low in the fiber-free, guar gum and 15% pectin groups at both 2 and 4 wk. The ratio of phenol red recovery from urine to that from feces, another index of apparent intestinal permeability, was higher in the fiber-free diet group than in all the other groups. Rats fed 15% dietary fiber had higher average ratios than those fed the same fiber at 5%. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that intestinal permeability to foreign substances may be altered considerably by diet.