Amelioration of ischemia-reperfusion injury of transplanted small intestine by ulinastatin: effects on accumulation and adhesion of neutrophil.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The graft protective effect of ulinastatin (UTI) against ischemia-reperfusion injury in small bowel transplantation (SBT) was verified with a rat SBT model. This study was carried out to investigate the effects of UTI on the accumulation and adhesion of neutrophils. METHODS: Twenty-four recipients of rat SBTs were randomly divided into a control group and a UTI group. UTI was injected intravenously into the donor (before harvest of the graft) and into the recipient (50,000 U/kg/d). Variables included graft pathological score; myeloperoxidase content (MPO); expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in the graft and plasma concentration of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) in the recipient. RESULTS: The pathological changes of control group grafts were more significant than those of the UTI group. The content of MPO and expression of ICAM-1 in transplanted small intestines were lower among the UTI group as were plasma concentrations of TNF. CONCLUSIONS: UTI may ameliorate graft ischemia-reperfusion injury in SBT through decreasing accumulation and adhesion of neutrophils.