Effects of electrical stimulation of vagus nerve on gut injury following intestinal ischemia-reperfusion in rats / 中国病理生理杂志

ABSTRACT

AIM: To investigate the effects of electrical stimulation of vagus nerve on gut injury following intestinal ischemia-reperfusion in rats. METHODS: 30 adult male Wistar rats subjected to bilateral cervical vagotomy were randomly divided into three groups (n=10 per group) (1) Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion group (group I/R) laparotomy and I/R induced by clamping arteria mesenterica superior for 1 h followed by reperfusion for 2 h. (2) Vagus nerve stimulation group (group VNS) laparotomy, I/R and electric stimulation with pulse train of constant amplitude 5V, pulse width 2 ms and frequency 1 Hz at the left caudal vagus ends for 20 minutes before and after occlusion. (3) Sham control group (group SC) sham operation and sham stimulation. Carotid artery was cannulated for mean arterial pressure (MAP) monitoring. A strip of small intestine was taken from distal end of ileum for light microscopic (LM) and transient electron microscopic (TEM) examination at the time of 2 h after reperfusion. Improved Chiu’s scale was used to quantitatively assay the damage degree. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and TNF-? in plasma were detected. RESULTS: MAP in every group kept steady during ischemia, but decreased gradually with the prolongation in the time of reperfusion. MAP decreased more dramaticly in group I/R than that in group VNS (P