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Two-Month Glucocorticoid Treatment Increases Proliferation in the Stomach and Large Intestine of Rats

Background/Aims: It has been shown that acute or short-term treatments with glucocorticoids lead to a marked decrease in proliferation in the stomach and large intestine. The effects of more prolonged glucocorticoid treatment on cell renewal in these organs are not known. The present work was therefore undertaken to examine the proliferative activity in the stomach and colon during 2 months of glucocorticoid treatment in comparison with shorter treatments. Methods: Rats were treated with either the glucocorticoid triamcinolone acetonide or vehicle for 63, 33 or 3 days. Proliferation was assessed in the glandular epithelium of the fundal part of the stomach and in the epithelium of the colonic crypts using three criteria: the mitotic index; the bromodeoxyuridinelabelling index, and the proliferating cell nuclear antigen-labelling index (percentage of mitotic or labelled cells). Results: Treatment with glucocorticoid for 63 days resulted in a very significant increase in all proliferative parameters tested in the gastric mucosa and the colonic crypts. On the contrary, treatments with glucocorticoid for 3 or 33 days had a marked inhibitory influence on proliferation in these tissues. Conclusion: As opposed to treatments for 3 or 33 days, glucocorticoid treatment for 2 months leads to an increase in the number of cycling cells in the gastric and colonic mucosae.