2006 Volume 57 Issue 4 Pages 239-247
Male Wistar rats were fed on a diet containing no, 11% or 13% cellulose for 4 weeks. The viscosity of the small intestinal contents of the rats fed on the diet containing 13% cellulose was 2,566 cP, which was significantly higher than the 667 cP in the control group fed on the diet with no cellulose. The respective viscosities of the cecal contents of the rats fed on the diets containing 11% and 13% cellulose were 6,098 cP and 6,345 cP, respectively, significantly higher than the 1,307 cP of the control group. The respective cecal tissue weights of the rats fed on the diets containing no, 11% and 13% cellulose were 0.74 g, 0.87 g and 0.77 g. The cecal tissue weight of the rats fed with cellulose was higher than the control value, and was positively correlated with the viscosity of the cecal contents. The concentrations of acetic, propionic and n-butyric acid in the cecal contents of the rats fed with cellulose were lower than the control values. It seems that the increased viscosity of the cecal contents suppressed cecal fermentation, although the increased viscosity of the small intestinal contents had no effect on the apparent digestibility of protein, lipid and carbohydrate.
