Cellular reactions of the mucous membrane of the intestinal system after uranium incorporation

A pilot study, which was performed on white laboratory male rats and included a morphological study of the mucous membrane of the jejunum and colon, revealed the long-term effect of a single oral exposure to an aqueous solution of depleted uranium oxides; this supported dynamic changes in the studied criteria determining metabolic, regenerative, and local regulatory processes in one, three and six months. A lymphoid component appeared to be the criterion of high radio sensitivity and a marker of nonspecific protection indicating deterioration of homeostasis. In the time dynamics of long-term periods, a change in all the parameters was detected when using immunohistochemical, histochemical, and specific methods at the level of the epithelium lining the relief formations of the mucous membranes of the intestinal system organs. The oxidative stress resulting in three months after exposure to depleted uranium, which was evidenced by a significant decrease in the content of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protein in the epithelial cells of the jejunely mucosa. Signs of its delayed effect after six months in the colon induced the pronounced nature of the reactions of stromal cell components that determined patterns of protective mechanisms of the intestinal-associated immune system with a greater expressiveness in the jejunum. The factual material cited in the work suggests the existence of a homeostatic immune response in the mucous membrane of the small and large intestines that controls cell proliferation, as a special form of immune surveillance of the state of cytodifferentiation.