Abstract
The aim of this study was to observe the impact of seawater immersion on the dynamic expressions of NF-κB and IκB mRNA in small intestinal tissues in rats with abdominal open injury. Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups: the control group (n = 7), the abdominal open injury (AOI) group and abdominal open injury plus seawater immersion (AOI+SI) group. The dynamic expressions of NF-κB and IκB mRNA in small intestinal tissueswere detected in each group/subgroup by real-time PCR method. After 72 h, NF-κB mRNAlevel of AOI+SI group was increased obviously compared to that of AOI group (P 72 h), the NF-κB mRNA expression was significantly up-regulated, which promoted the synthesis of NF-κB protein and further magnified NF-κB signal pathways to lead to the development of continued inflammatory course ultimately; meanwhile, the obviously up-regulated IκB-α mRNA level increased the expression of IκB-α protein to down-regulate the activity of NF-κb as much as possible. Key words: Abdominal open injury, seawater immersion, real-time PCR, NF-κB, IκB.
Highlights
Abdominal trauma is one of the most common injuries in modern sea battles with an incidence rate of 3 to 4%
The expression of NF-κB mRNA in abdominal open injury (AOI)+SI group was significantly increased at 72 h compared to that in the control or AOI group at the same time point (P
Western blotting results showed that the expression of IκB in AOI+SI group was decreased at 3 h compared to that in the blank or AOI group, and such decrease was continued up to 72 h (P0.05); in addition, the expressions of NF-κB in different groups told totally different stories in contrast with those of IκB (Figures 1 to 3)
Summary
Abdominal trauma is one of the most common injuries in modern sea battles with an incidence rate of 3 to 4%. Seawater immersion after abdominal trauma can lead to severe disorders in metabolism and hemodynamic, it can activate and cause the release of inflammatory cytokines in a large quantity to induce inflammatory reactions. The barrier function of intestines is destroyed and a large amount of bacteria and endotoxin (ETX) invade into organic circulation systems to induce more serious immune imbalance and induce the initiation and development of MODS (multiple organ dysfunction syndrome), which might serve as an important reason for the aggravation of injury (Sen and Baltimore, 1986; Ghosh et al, 1998). Inflammatory reactions constitute an essential part in a secondary injury, and they are the major cause for the progressive aggravation of injury or even MODS after trauma. Among different transcripttion factors regulating inflammatory genes, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) occupies the most dominant position, which is the necessary cytokine for transcriptional activation of many genes regulating inflammatory reactions in cells
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