title: Effect of ozone on intestinal recovery following intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Growing evidence suggests that ozone (O3) protects the host against pathological conditions mediated by reactive oxygen species by increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes. The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of O3 on intestinal recovery and enterocyte turnover after intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four experimental groups: (1) sham rats underwent laparotomy; (2) sham-O3 rats underwent laparotomy and were treated with an ozone/oxygen mixture intraperitoneally and intraluminally (50 %/50 %); (3) IR rats underwent occlusion of both superior mesenteric artery and portal vein for 20 min followed by 48 h of reperfusion, and (4) IR-O3 rats underwent IR and were treated with an ozone/oxygen mixture similar to group 2. Intestinal structural changes, Park's injury score, enterocyte proliferation and enterocyte apoptosis were determined 48 h following IR. Western blot was used to determine ERK and Bax protein levels. A non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA test was used for statistical analysis with p < 0.05 considered statistically significant.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Treatment of IR rats with O3 resulted in a significant increase in mucosal weight in jejunum (70 %) and ileum (32 %), mucosal DNA (twofold increase) and protein (35 %) in ileum, villus height and crypt depth in jejunum (61 and 16 %, correspondingly) and ileum (31 and 43 %, correspondingly) compared to IR animals. IR-O3 rats also had a significantly lower intestinal injury score as well as a lower apoptotic index in jejunum and ileum compared and IR animals. A significant increase in cell proliferation rates in IR-O3 animals was accompanied by increased levels of p-ERK protein.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment with ozone prevents intestinal mucosal damage, stimulates cell proliferation and inhibits programmed cell death following intestinal IR in a rat.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Intestinal Adaptation and Recovery, Department of Pediatric Surgery and Surgery, The Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Bnai Zion Medical Center, 47 Golomb St., P.O.B. 4940, 31048, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Bassel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Haj
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sukhotnik
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shaoul
authors.forename: Yulia
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pollak
authors.forename: Arnold G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Coran
authors.forename: Arie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bitterman
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matter
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000187:drug effects; D049109:Cell Proliferation / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D020895:Enterocytes / Q000187:drug effects; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D007422:Intestines / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010083:Oxidants, Photochemical / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010126:Ozone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020127:Recovery of Function / Q000187:drug effects*; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000150:complications*
chemical_list: D010083:Oxidants, Photochemical; D010126:Ozone