2024, Volume 17, Issue 3, pp 326 – 333

Effect of chronic stress on gel-forming mucins in the small intestine of BALB/c mice

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding author Marycarmen Godínez-Victoria Sección de Estudios de Posgrado e Investigación, Escuela Superior de Medicina, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México, México E-mail: mgodinezv@ipn.mx

Fabiola Guzmán-Mejía Departamento de Sistemas Biológicos, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Xochimilco, Ciudad de México, México E-mail: fabiolagm03@gmail.com

Abstract

Intestinal homeostasis involves the collaboration of gut barrier components, such as goblet cells and IgA–microbiota complexes, that are under the control of stress that promotes inflammatory responses addressed primarily in the colon. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of stress on mucins, goblet cells, and proinflammatory parameters in the proximal and distal regions of the small intestine. A group (n = 6) of female 8-week-old BALB/c mice underwent board immobilization stress (2 h per day for 4 days) and were sacrificed with isoflurane. Samples from proximal and distal small segments were collected to analyze the following: 1) goblet cells stained with periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) and with alcian blue (AB) to visualize histologically neutral and acidic mucins, respectively; 2) IgA–microbiota complexes identified by flow cytometry in intestinal lavages; and 3) MUC2, MUC5AC, and IL-18 mRNA levels in whole mucosal scrapings by reverse transcription–qPCR. Regarding the unstressed group, in the proximal region of small intestine both PAS+ and AB+ goblet cells were unchanged; however, MUC5AC and IL-18 mRNA levels were increased, and the percentage of IgA–microbiota complexes was reduced. In the distal segment, the number of PAS+ goblet cells was increased, whereas the number of AB+ goblet cells was reduced and did not affect the remaining parameters. The data suggest that stress induces inflammation in the proximal small intestine; these findings may provide an experimental reference for human diseases that may affect the proximal small intestine, such as Crohn’s disease, in which stress contributes to the progression of intestinal inflammation or relapse.

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About this article

PMC ID: 11262609
PubMed ID: 
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2023-0473

Article Publishing Date (print): 3 2024
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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