Effects of hydrogen inhalation on brain injury after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion in rats / 中华麻醉学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effects of hydrogen inhalation on the brain injury after intestinal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) in rats.Methods Fifty-four healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 6-8 months,weighing 285-350 g,were randomly allocated to one of 3 groups (n =18 each)sham operation group (group S),intestinal I/R group (group I/R) and hydrogen inhalation group (group H2).Intestinal I/R was produced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery for 90 min followed by reperfusion.2％ hydrogen was inhaled for 3 h starting from the end of ischemia.The cognitive function was detected at 1,2 and 5 days of reperfusion using Morris water maze test.The animals were sacrificed after the test and brains were isolated for detection of the cerebral edema and morphology in brain tissues.The cerebral water content ((wet weight-dry weight)/ wet weight × 100％) was measured.The pathological changes in the prefrontal cortex was observed under light microscope.The neuronal apoptosis was detected by TUNEL.Results Compared with the S group,the number of normal neurons in the prefrontal cortex was significantly decreased,the latency and swimming distance were both prolonged,the frequency of crossing the original platform was decreased,and the cerebral water content and the number of apoptotic neurons were increased in groups I/R and H2 (P ＜ 0.05).Compared with I/R group,the number of normal neurons in the prefrontal cortex was significantly increased,the latency and swimming distance were both shortened,the frequency of crossing the original platform was increased,the cerebral water content and the nunber of apoptotic neurons were decreased in group H2 (P ＜ 0.05).The pathological changes were obvious in I/R group,however,they were significantly attenuated in H2 group.Conclusion H2 inhalation can reduce the brain damage and improve the cognitive dysfunction after intestinal I/R in rats.