Analysis of Colonic Mucus During Acute Ischemia

To examine the role of mucus in the gastrointestinal tract, an ischemic model of the colon was made by ligation of the feeding artery. Mucus in the colonic mucosa was early identified by using concanavalin A (Con A) stain which is used to analyze gastric mucus. After ligation of the feeding artery, a change of the Con A positive mucus in the colonic mucosa was observed. The colonic mucus gradually decreased, to about one-tenth of the previous size in 20 minutes. After that, no remarkable macroscopic change was observed in the colonic mucosa. The findings suggest that ischemia of the colonic mucosa greatly influences the mucosal defensive mechanism in the early stage of ischemia.