The protective effect of taurine on intestinal barrier function in rats with endotoxemia

Objective To investigate the role of taurine in protecting intestinal barrier function in endotoxemia. Methods The rats endotoxemia model was made by injection of lipopolysaccharide 5 mg / kg into abdominal cavity. The healthy 18-day Wistar rats were selected and divided into three groups, lipopolysaccharide group (LPS group), taurine group (TAU group) and control group (NS group). The rats in LPS group and TAU group were further divided into 2 h, 6 h, 12 h and 24 h sub-groups and each sub-group had eight rats. Intestinal mucosa membranes were collected and made paraffin section or homogenate. The pathological characteristics of the small intestine were observed under light and electronic microscope. The level of TNF-α and IL-6 were detected by ELISA. The activation of NF-κB was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Results Pathological examination showed that, in LPS group, the intercellular space became broaden, microvilli villous were disarranged and atrophied, mitochondria swelled seriously with vacuolar degeneration, chromatin condensed around the nuclear, nucleoli fragmented and disappeared, a large number of apoptosis cells were observed, the structure of cells became disorder and abnormal. The activations of NF-кB at each point of time were higher in LPS group than in NS group, especially in 2 h sub-group. The level of TNF-α and IL-6 were higher in LPS group than that in NS group, especially in 2 h sub-group. The activations of NF-кB and the level of TNF-α and IL-6 in TAU group were significantly lower in TAU group than that in LPS group at the same time. The damages of intestinal mucosa membranes were slighter in TAU group than that in LPS group. Conclusions Taurine can reduce the activation of NF-κB, and the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in intestinal mucosa membranes, so that it has the protective effect on intestinal barrier function.