Research Report
Copyright ©2014 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 28, 2014; 20(28): 9519-9527
Published online Jul 28, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i28.9519
Remote ischemic postconditioning protects against gastric mucosal lesions in rats
Tao Wang, Ye-Ting Zhou, Xin-Nian Chen, An-Xiang Zhu, Bo-Hua Wu
Tao Wang, Department of Anesthesiology, Shuyang People’s Hospital, Shuyang 223600, Jiangsu Province, China
Ye-Ting Zhou, Bo-Hua Wu, Department of General Surgery, Shuyang People’s Hospital, Shuyang 223600, Jiangsu Province, China
Xin-Nian Chen, Institute of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
An-Xiang Zhu, Department of Pharmacy, Shuyang People’s Hospital, Shuyang 223600, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Wang T and Zhou YT contributed equally to this work, designed the research and wrote the paper; Wang T, Chen XN, Zhu AX and Wu BH provided new reagents/analytic tools, performed the research, analyzed the data and edited the manuscript.
Supported by Lanzhou City Science and Technology Development Plan, No. 2009-1-52
Correspondence to: Xin-Nian Chen, PhD, Institute of Pathophysiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Lanzhou University, No. 222 Tianshuinan Road, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. chenxn@lzu.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-931-8915023 Fax: +86-931-8915023
Received: October 8, 2013
Revised: January 21, 2014
Accepted: June 12, 2014
Published online: July 28, 2014
Processing time: 291 Days and 12.4 Hours
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the protective effects of remote ischemic postconditioning (RIP) against limb ischemia-reperfusion (IR)-induced gastric mucosal injury.

METHODS: Gastric IR was established in male Wistar rats by placing an elastic rubber band under a pressure of 290-310 mmHg on the proximal part of both lower limbs for 3 h followed by reperfusion for 0, 1, 3, 6, 12 or 24 h. RIP was performed using three cycles of 30 s of reperfusion and 30 s of reocclusion of the femoral aortic immediately after IR and before reperfusion for up to 24 h. Rats were randomly assigned to receive IR (n = 36), IR followed by RIP (n = 36), or sham treatment (n = 36). Gastric tissue samples were collected from six animals in each group at each timepoint and processed to determine levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), xanthine oxidase (XOD) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). Additional samples were processed for histologic analysis by hematoxylin and eosin staining. Blood samples were similarly collected to determine serum levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-10.

RESULTS: The pathologic changes in gastric tissue induced by IR were observed by light microscopy. Administration of RIP dramatically reduced the gastric damage score after 6 h of reperfusion (5.85 ± 0.22 vs 7.72 ± 0.43; P < 0.01). In addition, RIP treatment decreased the serum activities of LDH (3.31 ± 0.32 vs 6.46 ± 0.03; P < 0.01), CK (1.94 ± 0.20 vs 4.54 ± 0.19; P < 0.01) and the concentration of TNF-α (53.82 ± 0.85 vs 88.50 ± 3.08; P < 0.01), and elevated the concentration of IL-10 (101.46 ± 5.08 vs 99.77 ± 4.32; P < 0.01) induced by IR at 6 h. Furthermore, RIP treatment prevented the marked elevation in MDA (3.79 ± 0.29 vs 6.39 ± 0.81) content, XOD (7.81 ± 0.75 vs 10.37 ± 2.47) and MPO (0.47 ± 0.05 vs 0.82 ± 0.03) activities, and decrease in SOD (4.95 ± 0.32 vs 3.41 ± 0.38; P < 0.01) activity in the gastric tissue as measured at 6 h.

CONCLUSION: RIP provides effective functional protection and prevents cell injury to gastric tissue induced by limb IR via anti-inflammatory and antioxidant actions.

Keywords: Remote ischemic postconditioning; Limb ischemia-reperfusion; Gastric ischemia; Protection; Rat

Core tip: In the present study, the effects of remote ischemic postconditioning (RIP) on limb ischemia-reperfusion-induced gastric mucosal lesions were evaluated. This study demonstrates that RIP performed immediately before reperfusion ameliorates gastric mucosal lesions, increases superoxide dismutase activity, and decreases xanthine oxidase and myeloperoxidase activities and the level of malondialdehyde in gastric homogenates. In addition, RIP attenuated serum lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase activities, and significantly reduced the concentration of tumor necrosis factor-α, while elevating the concentration of interleukin-10.