Effects of iloprost and n-acetylcysteine on ischemia-reperfusion injury and thiol/disulfide hemostasis in rats

Abstract

Aim: Intestinal ischemia occurs after partial or complete obstruction of the intestinal arterial blood flow, and reperfusion injury following the restoration of blood flow. Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion [IIR] damage can cause multiple organ failure and death. In our study, we aimed to observe the effect of ilioprost and N-acetylcysteine on ischemia-reperfusion injury and to show the effect of the Thiol disulfide mechanism in this area. Material and Methods: Thirty Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups of six animals each: sham, IIR, IIR+IL, IIR+NAC and IIR+NAC+IL. Intestinal samples and blood were collected after completion of the sham or IIR protocol. Small-bowel samples were evaluated according to the Chiu score. Thiol/disulfide [DS] hemostasis was followed using a novel series of serum biomarkers. Serum concentrations of total thiol, native thiol and disulfide were also determined. Results: The average Chiu score was lower in the IIR + NAC group than in both the IIR and the IIR + IL group, but the differences were not statistically significant. The score in the sham group was significantly lower than those of the other four groups. The level of reduced thiol and the native thiol/total thiol [NT/TT] ratios were higher in groups treated with NAC, IL or both. In the latter groups, oxidized thiol, DS/TT and DS/NT ratios were lower than in the IIR group but the differences between the three treatment groups were not statistically significant. Discussion: The addition of IL to NAC was not more protective than NAC alone in a rat model of IIR injury. Our results suggest that markers of thiol-DS hemostasis can be used as indicators of antioxidant mechanisms in IIR injury.