Role of nuclear factor kappaB in intestine injury induced by hepatic ischemia reperfusion

The role of nuclear factor kappaB in intestine injury induced by hepatic ischemia reperfusion was investigated. Eighteen male Wistar rats were divided into 3 groups randomly: sham operation group (group A), hepatic ischemia reperfusion group (group B) and hepatic ischemia reperfusion plus pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) group (group C). The rats in group A were only subjected to laparotomy, those in group B underwent partial hepatic ischemia reperfusion (ischemia for 1 h and reperfusion for 2 h) and those in group C underwent the same procedure as that of group B but received PDTC 200 mg/kg i.v. before and after ischemia. After reperfusion, tissues of jejunum and venous blood were obtained for measurement of TNF-alpha, MDA and MPO. The levels of TNF-alpha in jejunum and venous blood, the levels of MPO in jejunum in group B were significantly higher than those in group A and group C (P0.05). There was no significant different in the levels of MDA between group B and group C. The severity of histological intestinal injury in group B and group C was similar. Hepatic ischemia reperfusion caused intestine injury, NF-kappaB may play an important role in this course and the targeting of upstream components of the inflammatory response, such as NF-kappaB, may have important therapeutic applications.