Gastrointestinal bleeding and iron absorption in the experimental blind loop syndrome

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Rats with surgically created self-filling jejunal blind loops and the blind loop syndrome manifested gastrointestinal bleeding and hyperabsorption of iron. Although the mean hematocrit and serum iron levels of rats with self-filling blind loops did not differ significantly from control rats, some rats with self-filling blind loops became overtly anemic and manifested low-serum iron levels. It is suggested that the documented gastrointestinal bleeding in these rats with the experimental blind loop syndrome is another manifestation of damage to the intestinal epithelium in conditions of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.