Male Wistar rats (n?=?65) were subjected to 16?h fasting with ad libitum water and: A) sham laparotomy (Sham fasted, n?=?24); B) intestinal ischaemia (IR fasted, n?=?27); and C) intestinal ischaemia with preoperatively access to a CHO drink (IR CHO, n?=?14). Spontaneous food intake, intestinal barrier function, insulin sensitivity, intestinal motility and plasma amino acids were measured after surgery.
The IR CHO animals started eating significantly earlier and also ate significantly more than the IR fasted animals. Furthermore, preoperative CHO loading improved the intestinal barrier function, functional enterocyte metabolic mass measured by citrulline and reduced muscle protein catabolism, as indicated by normalization of the biomarker 3-methylhistidine.
Preoperative CHO loading improves food intake, preserves the GI function and reduces the catabolic response in an IR animal model. These findings suggest that preoperative CHO loading preserves the intestinal function in order to accelerate recovery and food intake. If this effect is caused by overcoming the fasted state or CHO loading remains unclear.