Mechanisms underlying reduced weight gain in Intestinal Fatty Acid-Binding Protein (IFABP) null mice.

Mechanisms underlying reduced weight gain in Intestinal Fatty Acid-Binding Protein (IFABP) null mice. Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol. 2020 Jan 06;: Authors: Lackey AI, Chen T, Zhou YX, Bottasso Arias NM, Doran JM, Zacharisen SM, Gajda AM, Córsico B, Joseph LB, Storch J Abstract Intestinal-fatty acid binding protein (IFABP; FABP2) is a 15 kDa intracellular protein abundantly present in the cytosol of the small intestinal (SI) enterocyte. High fat (HF) feeding of IFABP-/- mice resulted in reduced weight gain and fat mass relative to wild-type (WT) mice. Here, we examined intestinal properties that may underlie the observed lean phenotype of high fat-fed IFABP-/- mice. No alterations in fecal lipid content were found, suggesting that the IFABP-/- mice are not malabsorbing dietary fat. However, the total excreted fecal mass, normalized to food intake, was increased for the IFABP-/- mice relative to WT mice. Moreover, intestinal transit time was more rapid in the IFABP-/- mice. IFABP-/- mice displayed a shortened average villus length, a thinner muscularis layer, reduced goblet cell density, and reduced Paneth cell abundance. The number of proliferating cells in the crypts of IFABP-/- mice did not differ from that of WT mice, suggesting that the blunt villi phenotype is not due to alterations in proliferation. IFABP-/- mice were observed to have altered expression of genes and proteins related to intestinal structure, while immu...
Source: American Journal of Physiology. Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol Source Type: research