Gestational psychological
stress (GPS) affects both the mother and fetal development, but the effects of
GPS on early newborn intestinal development are not known. Intestinal villi function in absorption of
nutrients while crypts house the stem cells needed for the continual
reformation of the intestinal epithelial layer. If the gut architecture is
impaired, the epithelial lining of the intestine could be a less effective
barrier between the lumen of the intestinal system and the rest of the body,
which is a factor in the development of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). We hypothesize that villi height and crypt
depth in the stressed neonate group would be reduced compared to the control
group. To determine the effects of GPS on neonate intestinal architecture,
pregnant dams were subjected to chronic unpredicted stressors during days 7-19
of gestation. Small intestine (n=12) and
colon (n=17) samples were harvested from 2-week-old pups and processed for
histological analysis. The ileum villi and colon crypts showed no significant
difference between the stressed and control groups. In the current trial, the
stressed group had a significant decrease in ileum crypt depth compared to the
control group. Future studies will
determine if this observation is due to a difference in the proliferation rate
of the stem cells in the crypt and look at other factors of intestinal
development such as the goblet cell quantification by alcian blue staining.