Protective effects of ulinastatin on intestinal barrier damaged after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in rats / 中华急诊医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the protective effects of Ulinastatin on intestinal barrier damaged after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in rats in order to illustrate the possible mechanism.Methods Twenty-one male SD rats were divided into three groups randomly (random number) including control group (sham group, n =7), cardiopulmonary resuscitation group (CPR group, n =7) and ulinastatin group (UTI group, n =7).The rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital sodium (45-60 mg/kg) by intraperitoneal injection.The rats of sham group were only treated with endotracheal intubation.Ulinastatin (100 000 U/kg) were injected via caudal vein 2 hours prior to CPR, and cardiac arrest was made in rats and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was carried out in the UTI group, while equivalent volume of sterile saline was used instead in the CPR group.Blood and ileum samples were obtained at 48 hour after restoration of spontaneous circulation (ROSC).The levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β) were assayed by ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), the protein levels of caspase-3 were determined by western blot, the intestinal mucosa were stained by terminaldeoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) and ileac mucosa were observed under transmission electron microscope.Data were processed with SPSS 17.0 software.Results The plasma levels of TNF-α and IL-1β were dramatically higher in CPR group than those in other two groups (CPR vs.sham, P ＜ 0.01;CPR vs.UTI, P ＜ 0.05).Moreover, the tight junctions between cells obviously broadened and loosened in the CPR group were found under electron microscope, however, this phenomenon was not obvious in the UTI group.A large number of apoptotic cells were observed by TUNEL assay in the CPR group, but a small number of apoptotic cells were observed in the UTI group.The protein levels of caspase-3 in the UTI group were higher than those in sham group, but lower than those in CPR group (both P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Ulinastatin has protective effects on the intestinal barrier damaged after cardiopulmonary resuscitation in rats by decreasing the proinflammatory mediators in the blood, reducing the expression of caspase-3and then reducing the numbers of apoptotic intestinal cells.