Effects of budesonide and probiotics enemas on the colonic mucosa of rats with experimental colitis1 Efeito de enemas contendo budesonida e probióticos na mucosa colonica de ratos com colite experimental

Purpose: To investigate the effect of enemas containing probiotics and budesonide on the colonic mucosa in experimental colitis. Methods: Fifty male Wistar rats with experimental colitis induced by 10% acetic acid enema were randomized to five groups (10 rats each) according to the treatment: group 1 saline solution, group 2 budesonide (0.75 mg/kg/day), group 3 probiotics (1mg/day), group 4 probiotics plus budesonide, and group 5 control, with not-treated rats. The following variables were studied: body weight, macroscopic and microscopic score of the colonic mucosa, and DNA content of the mucosa. Results: All animals lost weight between the beginning and the end of the experiment (280+ 16 mg versus 249+21 mg, p< 0.001). There was no significant difference among the groups in relation to both the macroscopic and histological score. The budesonide + probiotic group showed higher DNA content than control group (1.24+ 0.15 versus 0.92+ 0.30 mg/100mg of tissue, p=0.01). Conclusion: Budesonide in addition to probiotics enhance the mucosal trophism in experimental colitis.