Abstract
Our objective was to evaluate the protective effects of glucagon‐like peptide 2 (GLP‐2) on intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) rats. Thirty‐two rats were randomly assigned to four experimental groups, each of 8: Group A, sham rats underwent laparotomy only, without superior mesenteric artery (SMA) occlusion; Group B, I/R animals underwent laparotomy and occlusion of the SMA for 60 minutes followed by 120 minutes of reperfusion; Group C, I/R animals underwent intestinal I/R, and received pretreatment with GLP‐2 for 3 days preoperatively; and Group D, I/R animals underwent intestinal I/R, received pretreatment with GLP‐2 as above, and during the reperfusion phase were injected intravenously with GLP‐2. After the reperfusion of intestinal ischemia, samples of intestinal mucosa, mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN) and blood were prepared for determination. In the pretreatment rats with GLP‐2 (group C), Chiu's scores, bacterial colony counts, serum D‐lactate, intestinal mucosal MDA and ET‐1, and serum endotoxin, TNF‐α and IL‐6 were significantly reduced compared with intestinal I/R rats (group B). Administration of GLP‐2 during the reperfusion phase following pretreatment (group D) showed further protective effects in comparison with the pretreatment rats (group C). We conclude that treatment with GLP‐2 attenuates intestinal I/R injury, reduces bacterial translocation, inhibits the release of oxygen free radicals and ET‐1, and may well inhibit the production of proinflammatory cytokines. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2008.