gms | German Medical Science

Einleitung: In Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS), the resorptive capacity of the intestine is not sufficient to provide an adequate alimentary supply due to anatomic or functional reasons. Although the therapeutic options are improving, challenges still remain, which constitute the focus of SBS research. In order to simulate pathophysiological for research, porcine models of SBS are often used. Various approaches for generating SBS models and conducting SBS research have been described in literature.

Material und Methoden: Through a literature review, this work presents an overview of different techniques used to induce the SBS-model and outline the differences between various models regarding surgical procedures, monitoring, and methods of assessment.

Ergebnisse: Generally, female pigs or piglets 3-8 weeks weighing 10-30kg were used. The percentage of the resected small bowel ranged from 75% to 100%. The majority of researchers performed a mid-intestinal resection in which the remaining small bowel comprises equal parts of jejunum and ileum. Besides extended bowel resection, small bowel transplantation, bowel lengthening procedures, bowel dilatation, or pharmaceutical treatments for SBS were performed. The period of observation varied widely from 7 days up to 19 weeks. Nutrition was provided parenterally or enterally, according to the objectives of the study. Body weight, food intake, stool output, the general condition of the animal and blood tests were used for monitoring. Disaccharidase activity, plasma Glucagon Like Peptide-2, D-Xylose-test, motility testing have been employed for functional assessment. Morphological assessment included villus height and crypt depth, cell proliferation, thickness of the intestinal muscle layer, apoptosis, midvillus width, villus surface area, villus diameter, total number of villi, and enterocyte cell levels. Molecular (DNA/RNA), immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry were alsoerformed.

Schlussfolgerung: SBS models are very heterogenous. Furthermore, there are no standardized methods of animal monitoring and outcome analysis once a SBS model is successfully created. This work evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of different models and facilitates the selection of the best suitable SBS model according to the objectives of research.