title: N-Acetylcysteine Use in Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion in Rats Minimizing Bowel Injury.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) phenomenon can cause the dysfunction of some transplanted organs and other distant organs. Liver surgery success, including transplantations, may depend on the adverse effects of intestinal mucosa injury arising from temporary porta triad occlusion. The study objective was to examine I/R liver effects on the small intestine in rats after N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 2 groups. After anesthesia, they underwent 30 minutes of hepatic ischemia by clamping the porta triad, followed by reperfusion for 30 minutes or 6 hours. Each group was divided into 2 subgroups (n = 6), with 1 group receiving 0.9% saline solution (control) and the other receiving 150 mg/kg of NAC, 15 minutes before hepatic ischemia. At the end of reperfusion, blood was collected for enzyme dosage (alanine aminotransferase [ALT], aspartate aminotransferase [AST], lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], alkaline phosphatase [ALP]), and the terminal ileum was resected to study mucosal morphology by optical microscopy, computerized histomorphometry, and immunohistochemical assessment of apoptosis with caspase 3.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After 30 minutes of reperfusion, animals receiving NAC had lower injury in the intestinal mucosa compared to the control subgroup (P < .05). After 6 hours, AST was higher in the control subgroup than in the NAC subgroup (P < .05), and AST, ALT and LDH values showed a significant increase in both subgroups (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings show the deleterious effects of late (6-hour) reperfusion and the protective effect of NAC at 30 minutes, when evaluating the small intestine impact of I/R liver damage.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Faculdade de Medicina (FAMED), Rio Grande, Brazil. Electronic address: susilauz@gmail.com.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lauz Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Faculdade de Medicina (FAMED), Rio Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Menezes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Faculdade de Medicina (FAMED), Rio Grande, Brazil.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zogbi
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Frasson de Souza Montero
mesh_terms: D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D008099:Liver / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000601:surgery; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D000111:Acetylcysteine