EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF NECROTIZINC ENTEROCOLITIS IN NEW-BORN GOATS

To determine if there might be a relationship between oral feedings and necrotizing enterocolitis, 30 newborn goats were divided into 3 groups and fed 3 separate formulae. Ten received mother's milk, ten received mother's milk dialyzed to raise its osmolarity to 1.5 times normal and 10 received a standard 20 calorie/oz. commercial formula. Half of the goats in each formula group were artificially colonized with E. Coli. No animal fed unmodified mother's milk developed any significant abnormality. All of the goats fed hypertonic mother's milk developed diarrhea; 6 had milena; 8 had emesis. In this study group mucosal necrosis was seen in all animals at post mortem examination and 4 of the 5 animals colonized with E. Coli developed pneumatosis intestinalis. All of the newborn goats deprived of mother's milk died of sepsis. These studies suggest that both mucosal damage and colonization with gas-forming bacteria are necessary for the development of necrotizing enterocolitis. One pathway leading to mucosal damage may be the ingestion of hypertonic formula.