title: The effect of Antithrombin-III on routine hematological and biochemical parameters in an experimental animal model of skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Antithrombin III (AT-III) has been shown to attenuate the local and systemic harmful effects of skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) injury. The aim of the present study was to monitor the fluctuation of routine hematological and biochemical parameters in an experimental animal model of tourniquet-induced skeletal muscle I-R injury and to investigate how these are influenced by the protective administration of AT-III.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty male Wistar rats were submitted to a 6-hour, tourniquet-induced, complete ischemia of the right hind-limb. Animals were divided into those receiving AT-III (dose, 250 IU/kg) 30 minutes before the reperfusion (group A, n=30) and those receiving placebo (group B, n =30). Another 10 animals were sham-operated (group C). White blood cell (WBC) and platelet (PLT) count, aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (AST and ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT) were estimated in blood samples taken from the inferior vena cava at 3 different time points post-reperfusion (at baseline, at 30 minutes and at 4 hours) and groups A and B were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no statistically significant differences between the AT-III and the placebo groups at 0, 30 minutes and 4 hours with regard to the WBC, ALT and γ-GT levels, however, there was a significant decrease of AST levels 4 hours post-reperfusion in the AT-III group compared to the placebo group (p=0.002). An increased PLT count and ALP levels 30 minutes post-reperfusion were also noted in the AT-III group compared to placebo (p<0.001; and p=0.001, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Of the routine hematological and biochemical parameters tested, AST was found to be significantly suppressed at 4 hours in the AT-III-treated animals, suggesting a possible beneficial effect of AT-III in mouse skeletal muscle I-R injury. The effect of AT-III on PLTs and ALP levels merits further investigation. Hippokratia 2014; 18 (3): 234-239.
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Dg
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Karamanos
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Cd
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karkos
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Ag
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kambaroudis
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic Laboratory, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kritsepi
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Ct
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spyridis
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Surgery, Medical School, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Ts
authors.initials: Ts
authors.lastname: Gerassimidis
keywords: Experimental study; antithrombin-III; ischemia-reperfusion; lower limb; skeletal muscle