Catheterization of Intestinal Loops in Ruminants

The intestine Is a complex structure that is involved not only in the absorption of nutrients, but also acts as a barrier between the individual and the outside world. As such, the intestine plays a pivotal role in immunosurveillance and protection from enteric pathogens. Investigating gut physiology and immunology commonly employs the intestinal loops as an experimental model.

Many of these loop models are non recovery surgical procedures that study short-term changes in the intestine. We previously created a recovery gut loop model to specifically measure long-term immunological changes in the gut of sheep following exposure to vaccines, adjuvants and viruses. A significant drawback with this method is a single window of opportunity to administer agents to the loop at the time of surgery.