epiglucan and Ischemia

Ischemia-reperfusion injury is one of the leading causes of acute renal failure which is a common clinical event leading to development of chronic kidney disease and a high mortality; especially in elderly people. β-glucans are glucose polymer groups with free-radical scavenger, macrophage activator, and immune defense inducer functions. We designed this study to determine the possible protective effects of β-glucan against renal ischemia-reperfusion injury comparatively in young and aged rats.. Rats were assigned to the following groups: Young and aged sham, young and aged ischemia-reperfusion, young and aged β-glucan, young and aged ischemia-reperfusion+β-glucan. At the end of the experiment, following collection of blood samples, rats were sacrificed and kidneys were removed for histopathological and biochemical examination.. Mean tissue histopathological damage scores of young β-glucan group was lower than that of young ischemia-reperfusion group, and of aged β-glucan group was lower than that of aged ischemia-reperfusion group. Urea and creatinine levels of young and aged of sham group and β-glucan administered groups were all lower than those of ischemia-reperfusion and β-glucan+ischemia-reperfusion groups. Oxidative stress indexes of ischemia-reperfusion groups were increased however ; oxidative stress indexes of β-glucan administered to young and aged rats were lower than those of ischemia-reperfusion groups.. We conclude that β-glucan is effective to protect kidneys from ischemia-reperfusion-induced oxidative damage, especially in young rats (Fig. 6, Ref. 45).

Topics: Acute Kidney Injury; Age Factors; Animals; beta-Glucans; Free Radical Scavengers; Ischemia; Kidney; Kidney Failure, Chronic; Male; Oxidative Stress; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Reperfusion Injury

Saving the zone of stasis is one of the major goals of burn specialists. Increasing the tissue tolerance to ischaemia and inhibiting inflammation have been proposed to enable salvage of this zone. After a burn, excessive inflammation, including increased vascular permeability, local tissue oedema and neutrophil activation, causes local tissue damage by triggering vascular thrombosis and blocking capillaries, resulting in tissue ischaemia and necrosis. Oxygen radicals also contribute to tissue damage after a burn. However, macrophages play a pivotal role in the response to burn. We studied β-glucan because of its many positive systemic effects that are beneficial to burn healing, including immunomodulatory effects, antioxidant effects (free-radical scavenging activity) and effects associated with the reduction of the inflammatory response. There were four test groups in this study with eight rats in each group. Group 1 was the control group, group 2 was administered a local pomade (bacitracin+neomycin sulphate), group 3 received β-glucan (50 mg kg(-1), orally) + the local pomade and group 4 received β-glucan. Burns were created using a brass comb model. Macroscopic, histopathological and statistical assessments were performed. Samples were harvested on the 3rd, 7th and 21 days for analysis. The neutrophilic infiltration into the zone of stasis was analysed on day 3. Macrophage infiltration, fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis and re-epithelialisation ratios in the zone of stasis were analysed on days 7 and 21. The β-glucan groups (groups 3 and 4) exhibited lower neutrophil counts on the 3rd day, and macrophage infiltration, fibroblast proliferation, angiogenesis and re-epithelialisation were very high in these groups on the 7th day. In particular, re-epithelialisation on the 21st day was significantly better in the β-glucan groups. This study demonstrated that β-glucan may prevent neutrophil-dependent tissue damage and burn-induced oxidative injury through its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. We speculate that the inhibition of neutrophil activation preserves vascular patency by preventing capillary blockage. β-Glucan is also a powerful macrophage stimulator, and is therefore very effective in saving the zone of stasis.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Antioxidants; beta-Glucans; Burns; Disease Models, Animal; Ischemia; Male; Neutrophils; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Skin

In colorectal surgery, anastomotic failure is still a problem in ischemia. Here,we analyzed the effects of hyperbaric oxygen and beta-glucan on colon anastomoses in ischemic condition.. Colonic resection and anastomosis in rectosigmoid region were done in forty Wistar-Albino rats of four groups of equal number. Colon mesentery was ligated to induce ischemia. The first group was the control group. The subjects of second group were treated with hyperbaric oxygen;the third group with glucan and the forth group were treated with both. At the forth day, rats were sacrificed,anastomotic segment was resected and burst pressures and hydroxyproline levels of anastomotic line were measured.. The burst pressure difference of second and third groups from the control group were meaningful (P<0.01); the forth group differed significantly from the control (P<0.001). There was no difference between the treated groups on burst pressure level (P>0.05). The hydroxyproline levels in all treated groups were different from the control group significantly (P<0.001). Hydroxyproline levels in the forth group were higher than those of the second and the third groups (P<0.001). There were no significant differences between the second and the fourth groups in burst pressure and hydroxyproline levels (P>0.05).. Hyperbaric oxygen and glucan improve healing in ischemic colon anastomoses by anti-microbic,immune stimulating properties and seem to act synergistically when combined together.

Topics: Anastomosis, Surgical; Animals; beta-Glucans; Colon; Combined Modality Therapy; Female; Hydroxyproline; Hyperbaric Oxygenation; Ischemia; Oxygen; Postoperative Complications; Pressure; Rats; Rats, Wistar