Intestinal
ischemia is a common clinical event and reperfusion results in further tissue damage exceeding that of
ischemia alone. The present study was designed to test this and to assess the role of
pentoxifylline, (administered intravenously as a bolus dose of 25 mg/kg in 1 ml
normal saline, followed by continuous infusion of 0.2 mg/kg/minute for 95 minutes), in
ischemia-reperfusion injury of the rat intestine. Intestinal
ischemia was produced by occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) with interruption of the collateral flow for 30 minutes. Reperfusion was established by declamping the (SMA) for 1 hour and evaluation of the mucosal damage was determined using a grading scale from 0 to 5, with estimation of mean mucosal thickness, villous height and crypt depth. The grade of mucosal damage, mucosal thickness, villous height and crypt depth were 2.2, 407 microns, 210 microns, and 196 microns respectively in the
ischemia group, and 3.6, 327 microns, 156 microns, and 171 microns respectively in the
ischemia reperfusion group, while these values in
ischemia reperfusion with administration of
pentoxifylline group were 2.5, 505 microns, 294 microns, and 200 microns respectively. The severity of the tissue injury increased considerably after reperfusion of the ischemic intestine and
pentoxifylline was effective in attenuating the
reperfusion injury significantly.