ABSTRACT
Studies were undertaken to investigate whether the feeding of an elemental diet prior to therapeutic radiation could afford a similar prophylaxis to the intestine as that seen with intestinal ischemia. The experiments shows that the feeding of an elemental diet containing hydrolyzed protein (Vital HN) afforded significant protection to the intestine from therapeutic radiation injury. The interesting finding was that there was no significant difference in any of the parameters measured between the control and glutamine-enriched diets. Both diets caused significant increases in villous height and in microvillous length compared with the baseline biopsies taken when the dogs were eating normal kennel ration. Both diets afforded similar significant protection to the intestine from radiation injury. The demonstration that the feeding of diets in which the proteins have been predigested can alter the intestinal cells in such a way that they are much less vulnerable to injury, deserves an attempt at explanation.
