Physiological and histopathological effects of electroporation pulse on stomach of rats

Yuchi Zhang,Fenggang Ren,Yihui Gao,Yu Zhang,Qingshan Li,Zhuoqun Li,Xuan Han,Xiaoying Ma,Lihong Liang,Yi Lv,Haonan Liu,Xue Chen

doi:10.1186/s12876-021-01924-0

Yuchi Zhang, Fenggang Ren + Show 10 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s12876-021-01924-0

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Abstract

BackgroundIrreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging tissue ablation technique with widespread potential, especially for cancer treatment. Although the safety and efficacy of IRE for gastric tissue ablation have been demonstrated, there is a gap of knowledge regarding the effect of electroporation pulse (EP) on the physiology and histopathology of the stomach. This study applied EP to the stomach of healthy rats and investigated the digestive function, serum marker levels, and gastric tissue structure of EP-treated rats.MethodsNinety male rats were divided into nine groups and examined up to 28 days post-treatment. A single burst of electroporation pulse (500 V, 99 pluses, 1 Hz, 100 µs) was delivered to the stomachs of rats using a tweezer-style round electrode. Gastric emptying, small intestinal transit, and gastric secretion were measured to evaluate the digestive function. Serum marker levels were determined using ELISA. Haematoxylin–eosin, Masson trichrome, and immunofluorescence were performed for histopathological analysis.ResultsNo significant effect on gastric emptying or secretion was found post-EP, whereas the small intestinal transit decreased at 4 h and rapidly recovered to normal on 1-day post-EP. Further, serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels temporarily changed during the acute phase but returned to baseline within 28 days. Moreover, histopathological analysis revealed that cell death occurred immediately post-EP in the ablation area, whereas the gastric wall scaffold in the ablation region remained intact post-EP.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates the safety and efficacy of EP on the physiology and histopathology of the stomach and lays a foundation for more comprehensive applications of this technique.

Highlights

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging tissue ablation technique with widespread potential, especially for cancer treatment
Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a tissue ablation technique that allows delivering a burst of microsecond electric field pulses with specific characteristics, which yields the disruptions of cell membrane [1]
The small intestine transit decreased from 67.71 ± 6.18% to 33.25 ± 10.49% (P < 0.001) 4 h post-electroporation pulse (EP), but it rapidly recovered to 55.67 ± 13.58% at 1 days post-EP

Summary

Introduction

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is an emerging tissue ablation technique with widespread potential, especially for cancer treatment. The safety and efficacy of IRE for gastric tissue ablation have been demonstrated, there is a gap of knowledge regarding the effect of electroporation pulse (EP) on the physiology and histopathology of the stomach. Irreversible electroporation (IRE) is a tissue ablation technique that allows delivering a burst of microsecond electric field pulses with specific characteristics, which yields the disruptions of cell membrane [1]. EP is not affected by the heat sink effect, so the blood vessel adjacent to the ablation area will be unaffected [6]. These advantages of IRE prominently expanded the application of tissue ablation techniques, especially for heat-sensitive structures, which are usually out-of-reach for tissue ablation

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