Fermented Wheat Hamoum improves the recovery of intestinal mucosal and the short -chain fatty acids profile of colonic bacterial flora in malnourished rats

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a re-feeding protocol with fermented wheat Hamoum based- diet (FWH) had a beneficial effect on the recovery of weight growth as well restoration of intestinal organs morphometry and production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in young malnourished rats during the weaning period. Male Wistar rats (n = 36) aged 4-weeks and weighing 66 +/- 0.17g were divided into five groups. The first group constitute the control group (C) subjected to an experimental balanced diet with 20% casein; the second is the malnourished group (Mal) received a protein-deficient diet (2% casein) for 28 days; The other three groups constitute the malnourished and refed groups, they were refed for 28 days with FWH (Mal/FWH), non-fermented wheat-based diet (Mal/NFW) and control diet (Mal/C). We evaluated the weight growth of rats, the intestinal organs morphometry (small bowel, cecum and colon), the pH level and SCFA content. The results obtained show that the refeeding with FWH was sufficient to induce a recovery in the weight growth and the intestinal morphometry. It also contributed to the enhancement of the pH levels in the intestinal lumen and increased SCFA content in particular acetic acid at the ileal and colic level compared to Mal group. This recovery was strongly observed in Mal/FWH than for Mal/NFW and Mal/C groups. These findings indicated that FWH based diet could effectively improve the physiological functioning of the intestinal tract after weaning in situations of protein malnutrition.