Protective effect of ulinastatin against ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat small bowel transplantation

Introduction. We aimed, to evaluate the protective effects of ulinastatin (UTI) against graft ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat small bowel transplantation (SBT). Methods. Thirty-six recipients of rat SBT were randomly divided into three groups: 1, normal control, the graft was implanted immediately after harvest; 2, grafts preserved for 4 hours; and 3, grafts preserved for 4 hours and UTI administered to the recipients intravenously (50000 U/kg/d). Variables included pathological score and content of Na+-K+-ATPase, xanthine oxidase (XOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) in the transplanted small intestine. Results. The cold preservation caused moderate injury to the graft which was manifested by pathological changes as well as elevated XOD and MDA and decreased Na+-K+-ATPase and GSH content. Application of UTI diminished these changes. Conclusions. UTI may exert protective effects against the ischemia-reperfusion injury of transplanted small intestine thereby promoting structural and functional recovery of the graft.