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-alpha 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.
(c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Microsurgery, 2008