Effect of the administration of fermentable and non-fermentable dietary fibre on intestinal bacterial translocation in ascitic cirrhotic rats

Background Bacterial infections are frequent in cirrhosis. Experimental studies suggest a pathogenic role of intestinal bacterial translocation in them. Both fermentable and non-fermentable fibre avoided intestinal bacterial translocation (IBT) in animal models of gut starvation and critical illness. Aim To assess the effect of fermentable (pectin) or non-fermentable (lignin) fibre on IBT in ascitic cirrhotic rats. Methods Thirty-six rats induced to cirrhosis with oral CCl4 were randomized (6 weeks after the first CCl4 dose) to receive rat chow+5% lignin (LIG, n=13), rat chow+5% pectin (PEC, n=13), or rat chow only (CON, n=10). Once ascites developed, animals were laparotomized and samples of mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), ascitic fluid, portal and peripheral blood and liver, were obtained for culture. Results IBT rate was: LIG=5/13, PEC=4/13, CON=5/10 (P=N.S.). The median amount of translocated bacteria in rats with IBT was lower in the PEC group (2×102 CFU/g MLN), than in LIG (105 CFU/g MLN) and CON (104 CFU/g MLN) groups (P<0.05). All other samples were sterile except for a portal blood sample (Enterococcus faecalis) of the LIG group. Conclusions IBT incidence is not decreased by either pectin or lignin in ascitic cirrhotic rats, but pectin supplementation reduces the amount of translocated bacteria.