ABSTRACT
AIM: To observe the degree of gastric mucosal injury following limb ischemia/reperfusion(LIR),and to investigate the mechanism of gastric mucosal injury and the influence of the series of brief ischemia/reperfusion of hind limbs of rats on gastric mucosal injury. METHODS: Referring to Rosenthal's method, the model rats which underwent 4 hours of ischemia and 4 hours of reperfusion in hind limbs were made. The indexes of gastric mucosal injury after LIR and ischemic preconditioning (IPC) + LIR were determined. The morphologic changes were observed with light microscope and transmission electron microscop respectively. The GMBF,histologic lesion score, gastric barrier mucus, phospholipids, hexosamine, nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase in mucus were measured in different groups. RESULTS: Serious damage in gastric mucosa was observed under microscope and EM after LIR. But less serious damage was observed in the IPC group. After LIR, compared to the control group, the GMBF and the content of gastric barrier mucus, phospholipids and hexosamine in mucus decreased significantly. There was significant difference in most indexes between the control group and the IPC group, but compared to LIR group, the histologic lesion score decreased significantly and the GMBF and the content of gastric barrier mucus, phospholipids, hexosamine ,nitric oxide and nitric oxide synthase in mucus increased significantly. CONCLUSION: LIR caused the gastric mucosa injury. IPC alleviated the damage of gastric mucosa following ischemia/reperfusion in hind limbs.