Revisiting definition and assessment of intestinal trans-epithelial passage

This study aims to remind that Intestinal Passage (IP) measurement is a complex task that cannot be achieved by a unique measure of an orally given exogenous marker in blood or urine. This will be illustrated in the case of NOD mice. Indeed, various methods have been proposed to measure IP. Among them ex vivo measurement in Ussing chambers of luminal to serosal fluxes of exogenous markers and in vivo measurement of exogenous markers in blood or urine after oral gavage are the more commonly used. Even though they are commonly used indifferently, they do not give the same information and can provide contradictory results. Published data showed that diabetic status in female Non Obese Diabetic (NOD) mice increased FD4 concentration in blood after gavage but did not modify FD4 fluxes in Ussing chamber. We observed the same results in our experimental conditions and tracked FD4 concentrations in blood over a kinetic study (Area Under the Curve—AUC). In vivo measurements are a dynamic process and address not only absorption (IP and intestinal surface) but also distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME). Diabetic status in NOD mice was associated with an increase of intestinal length (absorptive surface), itself positively correlated with AUC of FD4 in blood. We concluded that increased intestinal length induced by diabetic status will extend the absorptive surface and increase FD4 concentration in plasma (in vivo measurement) despite no modification on IP of FD4 (ex vivo measurement). In addition, this study characterized intestinal function in diabetic NOD mice. Diabetic status in NOD female mice increases intestinal length and decreases paracellular IP (FSS) without affecting transcellular IP (HRP, FD4). Histological studies of small and large intestine did not show any modification of intestinal circumference nor villi and crypt size. Finally, diabetic status was not associated with intestinal inflammation (ELISA). SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-021-04000-8.