Does sucralfate prevent apoptosis occurring in the ischemia/reperfusion-induced intestinal injury?
GROUND/PURPOSE: We have shown in a previous study that sucralfate is beneficial in the prophylaxis and treatment of hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced intestinal injury. The aim of this study is to investigate whether sucralfate has any effect on the prevention of apoptosis in the ischemia/reperfusion (I/R)-induced intestinal injury. METHODS: Rats were randomized into three groups. Group 1 and 2 were subjected to I/R. Group 1 (treatment group) received sucralfate while group 2 (treatment control group) did not. Group 3 served as a normal control group (sham group). The terminal ileum was harvested for histopathologic investigation by light microscopy. The presence of apoptotic enterocytes (DNA fragmentation in cell nuclei) was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end-labeling (TUNEL) reaction. RESULTS: In treatment control group, 3 of 7 rats had severe inflammation. None of the sucralfate-treated rats showed severe inflammation, 6 of them only showed mi
