title: Impacts of β-estradiol on intestinal injury in newborn rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Necrotizing enterocolitis has been investigated and debated extensively in recent years; however, there is still no effective treatment. The aim of this study was thus to examine the effects of β-estradiol on intestinal injury in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four newborn female rat pups were divided into three groups. In group 1 (sham), hypoxia-re-oxygenation was not performed. In group 2 (saline), the rats were injected with saline after hypoxia-re-oxygenation, and the process was repeated for 5 d. In group 3 (β-estradiol treatment), the rats were subjected to hypoxia-re-oxygenation and then given β-estradiol intraperitoneally once a day for 5 d. After these procedures, the terminal ileum was removed for analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Statistically significant differences in histological grades were found between groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.000), groups 1 and 3 (p = 0.028), and groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.021). There were also differences in TNF-α and IL-6 levels between groups 2 and 3 (p = 0.000 and p = 0.038, respectively) and between groups 1 and 2 (p = 0.000 and p = 0.000); there was no difference between groups 1 and 3 (p = 0.574 and p = 0.195, respectively). Electron microscopy examination revealed a decrease in lipid droplets at the apical cytoplasm of the columnar cells in group 2; in group 3, the absorption of the lipids as lipid droplets was similar to that of group 1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, β-estradiol was found to decrease the intensity of intestinal injury significantly by inhibiting TNF-α and IL-6.
authors: a Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics , Acıbadem Adana Hospital , Adana , Turkey .
authors: Hasan
authors: H
authors: Kilicdag
authors: b Medical and Experimental Research Center, Çukurova University , Adana , Turkey .
authors: Yusuf Kenan
authors: YK
authors: Daglioglu
authors: c Department of Histology and.
authors: Leman
authors: L
authors: Sencar
authors: d Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine , Çukurova University , Adana , Turkey.
authors: Seyda
authors: S
authors: Erdogan
authors: d Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine , Çukurova University , Adana , Turkey.
authors: Suzan
authors: S
authors: Zorludemir
authors: c Department of Histology and.
authors: Sait
authors: S
authors: Polat
authors: d Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine , Çukurova University , Adana , Turkey.
authors: Emine Kilic
authors: EK
authors: Bagir
authors: c Department of Histology and.
authors: Gulfidan
authors: G
authors: Coskun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D020345:Enterocolitis, Necrotizing / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004958:Estradiol / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D007082:Ileum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011897:Random Allocation; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D004967:Estrogens; D004958:Estradiol
keywords: IL-6; TNF-α; intestinal injury; necrotizing enterocolitis; newborn rat; β-Estradiol