Protective effects of oral arginine on gut ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with scald

Objective To explore the protective effects of oral arginine on gut ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with scald.Methods Sixty-six SD rats were randomly divided into normal control(N,n=6),oral L-arginine(A,n=30) and normal enteral feeding(E,n=30).The rats of group A and E were inflicted with 30% total body surface area full thickness scald.The content of superoxide dismutase (SOD),malondialdehyde(MDA),nitric oxide (NO) in intestinal mucosa and bacterial translocation rates of extraintestinal organs.Results Compared with N group,the content of SOD in intestinal mucosa was decreased significantly (P0 05) and the content of MDA in intestinal mucosa was increased significantly(P0 05) after scald both A and E groups.Compared with E group,the changes of SOD and MDA were lower than E group and it was significant on 12 h and 24 h after scald.The content of NO in intestinal mucosa was obviously higher than that in E group on 24 h after scald (P0 01).Bacterial translocation rates of A group were decreased significantly than E group on 24 h and 48 h after scald.Conclusions Oral arginine may relieve the damage of gut barrier after the postburn gut ischemia-reperfusion.The mechanism of this protective effect may be correlated with increased the content of NO in intestinal mucosa by oral L-arginine.