Samuel Gbadebo OLUKOLE, Adenike Olusola OLATUNJI-AKİOYE, Oluwaseyi Oyeniyi OWOLABİ, Bankole Olusiji OKE

Structural Modifications of the Small Intestine of the African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse): Implications for Dietary demands and Improved Domestication

The African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse) is a wild rodent in sub-Saharan Africa widely hunted as popular meat delicacy. Domestication of this rat has been poor, probably due to nutrition among other factors. Developmental studies of the duodenum, jejunum and ileum as well as investigations of diet-based structural modifications of the small intestine were carried out in the rats using neonates, juveniles and adults with the aim of providing useful research information which could lead to improved domestication. The mean body weights of the animals were 39.67±1.45 g, 225.00±25.00 g and 742.90±62.13 g, respectively for the neonate, juvenile and adult rats. Significant differences were also observed in the villus height, villus width and crypt depth between the neonates and juveniles, unlike between juvenile and adult rats. These changes in intestinal morphology between the neonate and juvenile rats could be a measure of the neonates’ adaptation to shifts from digestion of maternal milk to the consumption of solid and semisolid forages. Respectively for neonates, juvenile and adult rats, 188%, 228% and 30% increases in villus height for the duodenum, jejunum and ileum respectively, were observed. This is suggestive of larger surface area of the small intestine for digestion and absorption. This study elucidates the structural modifications of the small intestine which can be applied to dietary modifications in response to age in an effort to achieve a more successful domestication of the animal.

PDF

___

Ajayi SS. 1974. The biology and domestication of the African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse). Ph.D Thesis, Department of Forest Resource Management, University of Ibadan.

Diamond JM. 1986. Hard-wired local triggering of intestinal enzyme expression. Nature 324: 408

Donovan SM, Hartke JL, Monaco MH, Wheeler MB. 2004. Insulin- like Growth factor1 and piglet intestinal development. Dairy Sci. 87: E47- E54.

Durotoye LA, Oke BO. 1990. A comparative study on the haemogram of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse) and the Wistar rat. Trop. Vet. 8: 29-38.

Ellis H, Mulder C, Valverde E, Poling A, Edwards T. 2017. Reproducibility of African giant pouched rats detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis. BMC Infectious Diseases 17: 298 DOI 10.1186/s12879-017-2347-3

Gutierrez I, Espinosa A, Garcia I, Sarabano R, Deblas JC. 2002. Effects of level of starch, fibre and lactose on digestion and growth performance of early weaned rabbits. J. Anim. Sc. 80: 1029- 2037.

Happlod RR. 1987. The Mammals of Nigeria. Clarendon Press Oxford, London.

Henning SJ. 1987. Functional development of the gastrointestinal tract. In: Johnson LR (ed) Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract. Raven Press, New York, 285-300.

Hugeholtz F, de Vos MM. 2018. Mouse models for human intestinal microbiota research: a critical evaluation. Mol. Life Sci. 149. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-017-2693-8

Klurfeld DM. 1997. Nutritional regulations of gastrointestinal growth. Frontiers in Biosc. 4: 1-7.

Koldovsky D, Palmieri M, Jumawan J. 1972. Inhibition of the cortisone-evoked increase of intestinal sucrase by actinomycin D. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 140: 1108-1110.

Koldovsky D. 1983. Role of intrinsic, hormonal and dietary factors in expression of perinatal development of mammalian small intestinal sucrose. J. Pediatr. Gastroenterol. Nutr. 2 (1): 145- 150.

Mekbungwan A, Yamauchi K, Sakaida T. 2004. Intestinal villus: histological alterations in piglets fed dietary charcoal powder including wood vinegar compound liquid. Anat Histol. Embryol. 33 (1): 11- 16.

Monadjem A, Taylor PJ, Denys C, Cotterill FP. 2015. Rodents of Sub-Saharan Africa: A Biogeographic and Taxonomic Synthesis. Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin, Germany.

Moon HW, Joel DD. 1975. Epithelial cell migration in the small intestine of sheep and calves. Am. J. Vet. Res. 36: 213- 215.

Moon HW, Skartvedt SM. 1975. Effect of age on epithelial cell migration in the small intestine of chickens. Am. J. Vet. Res. 36: 213- 215.

Moutairou K, Hayez N, Poh L, Pathyn VG, Pochel R. 1996. Calbidin localization in African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus Waterhouse). Biochemica et Biophysica Acta Mol. Cell Res. 13: 213-218.

Nwaogu IC, Ezeasor DN. 2009. Changes in morphological features of duodenum and jejunum of prenatal and postnatal West African Dwarf goats (Capra hircus). Trop. Vet. 27 (2): 1-10.

Nzalak, JO, Wanmi N, Imam JA, Umosen, AD. 2015. Anatomical and Histological Studies of the Small Intestine of the African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus-Water house)- II. Ann of Expt. Biol. 3 (4):20-26.

Oke BO, Aire TA. 1996. The coagulating gland of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse). Trop. Vet. 14: 23- 29.

Oke BO, Aire TA, Adeyemo O, Heath E. 1988. On the accessory reproductive glands of the male African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse). Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on Animal Reproduction and Artificial insemination. Dublin, Ireland.

Oke, BO, Aire TA, Adeyemo O, Heath E. 1989. The ultrastructure of the epididymis of the African giant rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse). J Anat (Lond) 165: 75-89.

Olude MA, Mustapha OA, Olopade JO. 2017. Morphological Characterization of the African Giant Rat (Cricetomys gambianus, Waterhouse) Brain Across Age Groups: Gross Features of Cortices. Niger. J. Physiol. Sci. 31: 133-138.

Olukole SG. 2009. Morphometric analysis of the kidneys of the adult domesticated African greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) Eur. J. Anat. 13 (3): 117-120

Olukole SG, Oyeyemi MO, Oke BO. 2009. Biometrical observations on the testis and epididymis of the domesticated adult African Greater cane rat (Thyronomys swinderianus). Eur. J. Anat. 13 (2): 71-75.

Omirinde JO, Olukole SG, Oke BO. 2019. Age-related changes in the testicular and epididymal sperm parameters in the African greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus, Temminck, 1827). Anim. Res. Inter. 16 (1): 3255 – 3264.

Pacha J. 2000. Development of intestinal transport function in mammals. Physiol. Rev. 80 (4): 1633-1667.

Poole CA. 2001. Ontogenesis of Peptide Transport and Morphological Changes in the ovine GIT. M.Sc. Thesis. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blackburg, Virginia.

Randal KB, Elnif J, Pucher-Gardiner AA, Sanglid PT. 2001. Intestinal apical amino acid absorption during development of the pig. Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integ. Comp. Physiol. 280 (1): 241- 247.

Tsuboi KK, Kwong LK, Ford WDA, Colby T, Sunshine P. 1981. Delayed ontogenic development in the bypassed ileum of the infant rat. Gastroenterol. 80: 1550-1556.

Van den Bogert B, Leimena MM, De Vos WM, Zoetendal EG, Kleerebezem M. 2011. Functional intestinal metagenomics. In: De Bruin FJ (ed) Handbook of molecular microbial ecology, vol II: metagenomics in different habitats. WileyBlackwell, New York

Van-Ginneken C, Van-Meir F, Weyns A. 2002. Stereologic characteristics of pig small intestine during normal development. Dig. Dis. Sci. 47 (4): 868- 878.

Weaver LT. 1986. Milk and the neonatal gut: comparative lessons to be learnt. Equine Vet. J. 18: 427-429.

Weaver LT, Carrick BM. 1989. Changes in Upper Intestinal Epithelial Morphology and Kinetics in the Growing Guinea Pig. Paediatr. Res. 26 (1): 31-33.

Yeh KY. 1976. Cell kinetics in the small intestine of suckling rats. Anat Rec 188: 69-76.

Yeh KY, Holt PR. 1985. Rat milk maintains intestinal lactase activity in rat pups whereas artificial formulas do not. Pediatr. Res. 19: 963-967.

Yeh KY, Holt PR. 1986. Ontogenic timing mechanism initiates the expression of rat intestinal sucrase activity. Gastroenterol. 90: 520-526.