Protective effects of N-acetylcysteine on blood-brain barrier and brain tissues injure in rats with severe acute pancreatitis

Objective To study the protective effects of N-acetylcysteine(NAC) on blood-brain barrier(BBB) and brain tissues injure in rats with severe acute pancreatitis(SAP).Methods Thirty SD rats were randomly divided into sham operation group(SO group),SAP group and NAC intervention group(NAC group),with 10 rats in each group.SAP model was induced by retrograde injection of 5%sodium taurocholate(0.1 ml/100 g) into the bilipancreatic duct.All the animals were sacrificed at 3 h,6 h,12 h after induction of pancreatitis.Histopathological changes in rats brain tissue were detected with light microscope and electron microscope.Immunohistochemistry was detected expression of tree cytoskeletal protein about BBB which is glial fabrilary acidic protein(GFAP),Bcl-2 and Matrix Metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9).Results The pathology scores in NAC group at each time points were significantly lower than that in SAP group(all P0.01).Positive cells of Bcl-2,GFAP and MMP-9 in the SAP and NAC group at each time points were significantly more than those in SO group(all P0.01).The positive cells of Bcl-2 and GFAP in NAC group at each time points were significantly more than those in SAP group(all P0.01).The positive cells of MMP-9 in NAC each subgroup were significantly less than those in SAP group(all P0.01).Conclusion NAC can regulate the expresstion of inflammation factors,significantly reduce the blood-brain barrier damage and have a protective effects on brain tissues in rats with SAP.