Effects of ukrain in rats with intestinal ischemia and reperfusion

BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to investigate the potential protective effect of the ukrain on ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury in rat intestine, which has not previously been studied.MethodsThirty-one male Sprague–Dawley rats were randomly assigned to four groups, each consisting of eight rats as follows: (1) a sham group (S) (laparotomy, but no IR injury); (2) ukrain group (U) (no IR, and ukrain was administered intraperitoneally 1 h before laparotomy); (3) intestinal ischemia–reperfusion (II/R) group (30-min occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery then 2-h reperfusion); and (4) ukrain + II/R group (U + II/R) (30-min occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery then 2-h reperfusion; ukrain was administered intraperitoneally 1 h before IR).ResultsSerum total oxidant status (TOS) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were measured using Erel method. Oxidative stress index was calculated using the TOS/TAS ratio. TAS levels increased and TOS serum levels were also significantly decreased in the ukrain + IR group compared with the IR group (P = 0.000 and P = 0.015).ConclusionsIn this study, we demonstrated for the first time in literature that ukrain helps to prevent intestinal tissue breakdown against II/R injury and that this effect can be achieved by antioxidant activities.