Hypertonic saline activates CD4+ and CD8+ T-lymphocytes in the small intestine to alleviate intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury.
OBJECTIVE
Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury (I/R) is a common syndrome encountered in clinic following intestinal surgery, strangulated hernia, and shock. Hypertonic saline has been shown to prevent inflammatory tissue damages caused by I/R and regulate immunologic disorders in peripheral blood. However, the immunoregulatory effects of hypertonic saline on the small intestine response to intestinal I/R have not been reported.


METHODS
To investigate this, we created the intestinal I/R model by clamping the superior mesenteric artery in Sprague-Dawley rats. After 1 hour of ischemia, the vascular clamp was removed, and either normal saline (0.9% NaCl, NS group) or hypertonic saline (7.5% NaCl, HS group) was administered through the tail vein (6 ml/kg). The CD4(+) and CD(8+), primarily T-lymphocytes subpopulation yielded from the intestinal tissues, were determined by immunohistochemistry.


RESULTS
A pro-inflammatory cytokine, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), a critical transcription factor for the TNF-α gene, were measured in the intestinal and lung tissues with ELISA. HS induced an increase in CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the jejunum and ileum compared with the NS group. The levels of TNF-α and NF-κB in the intestinal and lung tissues were significantly decreased in the HS group compared with those of the NS group.


CONCLUSIONS
HS treatment may ameliorate the tissue damage induced by intestinal I/R. This protective effect is possibly due to its ability to activate the CD4(+) and CD8(+) T-lymphocytes cells in the intestinal tissues and inhibit the intestinal I/R-induced expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines.
Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Affiliated to The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. drzzx@163.com.
D-J
DJ
Yang
Z-X
ZX
Zhu
H-B
HB
Fu
R-L
RL
Yan
J
J
Chen
Y-J
YJ
Cheng
Q-P
QP
Cai
Q
Q
Wang
D000818:Animals; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D007410:Intestinal Diseases / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016328:NF-kappa B / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012462:Saline Solution, Hypertonic / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D016207:Cytokines; D016328:NF-kappa B; D012462:Saline Solution, Hypertonic; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha