Stimulation of the Gut Immune System in Neonatal Wistar Rats Using Tahneeq and or Breastmilk
Abstract
The neonatal gut plays an important role in the development of the human immune system of which mucosal layer may act as the inductive site for local and systemic immune system. Tahneeq is a mechanical procedure that stimulates the palatal mucosa using palm dates (Phoenix dactylifera). It has been applied in Arabic neonates for a long time ago but it has not been determined scientifically whether or not it activates the gut immune system whereas breastfeeding has been proven to improve the neonatal immune system. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the effect of tahneeq on intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs) and Peyer’s patch diameter in the small intestine of neonatal Wistar rats. This randomized control trial with the posttest design used 12 neonatal rats and they were randomly divided into two groups: 6 rats in the control group (C) were given breastmilk only and 6 rats in the treatment group (T) were given tahneeq and breastmilk for 7 days. Intraepithelial lymphocytes count and Peyer’s patch diameter were determined using a light microscope Olympus CX21, equipped with Imaging Software v2.1. Collected data were analyzed using Bland Atman, Shapiro-Wilk and independent t-tests with α = 0.05. The mean intraepithelial lymphocytes in the C
group was 126.5±1.8708 and lower than that of the T group (346.833 ±2.4014) with p <0.001. The same pattern was also observed in Peyer’s patch diameter (0.1333±0.16 vs. 0.6333±0.27µm respectively). The difference in Peyer’s patch diameter was statistically significant (p=0.003). In conclusion, tahneeq can stimulate the gut immune system by an increase of IELs count and Peyer’s patch diameter in the small intestine of neonatal
Wistar rats.
References
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[1] Walker W A 2017 Pediatric research J 82 (3) 387-95.
[2] Olszak et al. 2012 Science J. 336 (6080) 489-93.
[3] Jakobsson H E, Abrahamsson T R, Jenmalm M C, et al. 2014 Gut J. 63 559-66.
[4] Cabrera-Rubio R, Collado M C, Laitinen K, Salminen S, Isolauri E, Mira A 2012 Am J Clin Nutr. 96 544-51.
[5] Cho C E and Norman M 2012 Am J Obstet Gynecol. 208(4) 249-54.
[6] National Center for Health Statistics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2016 Births – Method of Delivery Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/ delivery.htm. Last accessed 10 March 2017.
[7] Rutayisire E, Kun Huang, Yehao Liu and Fangbiao Tao 2016 BMC Gastroenterol. 16 86.
[8] Dominguez-Bello M G, De Jesus-Laboy K M, Shen N, Cox L M, Amir A, Gonzalez A, Bokulich N A, Song S J, Hoashi M, Rivera-Vina J, Mendez K, Knight R, and Clemente J C 2016 Nat Med J. 22(3) 250-3.
[9] McFarland LV 2014 BMJ Open 4 e005047.
[10] Nascimento M M 2017 Calif Dent Assoc J. 45(10): 565-8.
[11] Merenstein D, El-Nachef N, and Lynch S V 2014 J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr. 59(2): 157-61.