Protection of small bowel from ischemia and re-perfusion injury using luminal fetal bovine serum perfusion

A fetal or newborn (rat) organ (eg intestine, kidney, skin or lung) transplanted into a syngenic adult host without any vascular anastomosis is able to survive. We hypothesize that fetal tissue possesses an innate ability to prevent ischemia reperfusion injury, such "factors" being developed during pregnancy. We created an experimental model to induce total vascular occlusion in a 15-cm long rat ileal segment. Using an osmotic minipump implanted at the subcutaneous space of the abdominal wall of a test rat, fetal bovine serum (FBS) luminal perfusion was conducted. Three days prior to the three-hour total vascular occlusion had been induced, luminal perfusion using FBS commenced for the test animals. On day zero, day three and day six following the release of vascular occlusion, the test rats were sacrificed and tissue samples were obtained for morphological study and intestinal DNA and protein content measurement. We used a scale where the occlusion-induced morphological changes to the intestinal mucosa were graded into one of six different levels of mucosal damage. The greater the numerical rating, the more substantial morphological changes to the gut wall. On data zero,the mean grades of the morphologically apparent intestinal deterioration were both rated at a level of five for the control and the experimental group. The mean values were 3.1 and 2.1 on day three, and 2.6 and 1.5 on day six, for the control and experimental control group was 2.26 ± 0.52 (μg/mg) on day zero, 3.46 ± 0.68 (μg/mg) on day 3 and 3.50 ± 0.72 (μg/mg) on day 6. DNA content of the experimental group on day zero was 2.79 ± 0.78 (μg/mg), 4.54 ± 0.76 (μg/mg) on day 3 and 4.49 ± 0.49 (μg/mg) on day 6. Protein content of the control group on day zero was 31.52 ± 2.96 μg/mg), 54.85 ± 4.16 (μg/mg) on day 3 and 56.12 ± 3.93 (μg/mg) on day 6. Protein content of the experimental group was 57.93 ± 5.48 (μg/mg) on day zero, 74.69 ± 9.50 (μg/mg) on day 3 and 71.72 ± 7.02 (μg/mg) on day 6. From the data described above, luminal perfusion using FBS could, under certain circumstances, protect the small bowel from ischemia and reperfusion injury and also increase intestinal mass.