ABSTRACT

Objective:

To evaluate the capacity of ischemic postconditioning and atorvastatin in prevent or minimize reperfusion injury in small bowel of rats subjected to ischemia and reperfusion by abdominal aorta clamping.

Methods:

41 Wistar norvegic rats were distributed into 5 groups: ischemia and reperfusion, ischemic postconditioning, postconditioning + statin, statin and Sham. After anesthesia, laparotomy and dissection of the infra-renal abdominal aorta were performed; except the Sham group, all others were subjected to aorta clamping for 70 min (ischemia) and withdrawal of clamp for 70 min (reperfusion). In the IPC and IPC + S groups, four cycles of postconditioning were performed between the phases of ischemia and reperfusion lasting 30 s each. In IPC + S and S groups, 3.4 mg/day of atorvastatin was given for seven days per gavage; 1 cm of the ileum were removed for histological study and the results were subjected to statistical treatment considering significant p < 0.05.

Results:

The average of intestinal lesion was 2 in the I/R group, 0.66 in the IPC group, 0 in the IPC + S group, 0 in the S group, and 0 in the SHAM group.

Conclusion:

The ischemic postconditioning and atorvastatin were capable of minimizing intestinal reperfusion injury, either alone or in combination.

Keywords:
Ischemia; Reperfusion; Ischemic postconditioning; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors; Small intestine