Abstracts
2000 Digestive Disease Week

# 2320 Abnormal Absorptive Function of the Small Bowel Following Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Protection Afforded by Pyruvate.
Luca Cicalese, Melissa Brown, Pierpaolo Sileri, Sergio Morini, Veronica Zuber, Jackie Blanchard, Cristiana Rastellini, Enrico Benedetti, Chicago, IL

Background: Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) of the small bowel has been shown to result in tissue injury and chronic mucosal changes. The 3-carbon compound pyruvate (PY), has been shown to prevent the mucosal damage observed immediately after I/R as well as neutrophil infiltration and oxygen free radical (OFR) production. Since information on the functional implications of these changes are scant, this study aims to evaluate the effect of I/R on mucosal function following I/R and the potentially protective effect of PY. Materials and methods: Male ACI rats of 200-250 grams were randomly assigned to receive either a liquid diet containing 15mM/day pyruvate (N=4) or isoenergetic amounts of polycose (placebo, N=7). After 7 days they underwent three superior mesenteric artery (SMA) clampings for 45 minutes each with a 6 day interval between clampings. A separate group received the placebo (N=4) and underwent sham operations as surgical controls. Dxylose absorption study was performed 24 hours after the last clamping in all rats as well as in animals (n=6) receiving no treatment or surgery which established normal values. A non parametric test (Mann-Whitney U) was used to perform statistical analysis of the data using SPSS software. Results: D-xylose absorption studies revealed that in the sham operated rats absorption was not affected when compared to unoperated animals. The absorption of D-xylose was significantly diminished in the placebo group 24 hours after the last ischemic episode compared to the sham control (serum p=0.01; urine p=0.017). PY treatment prevented post ischemic absorption abnormalities maintaining values within the normal range (urinary excretion expressed as mean %±SEM: PY 26±4 vs placebo 6.6±1.3; p=0.01; serum concentration expressed as mean mg/dL±SEM: PY 31.2±6 vs placebo 3.8±1.2; p=0.006). Conclusion: The previously shown efficacy of PY to protect the small bowel from I/R injury was confirmed in this study. Our data demonstrate that intestinal I/R causes alteration of the absorptive function of the bowel. PY treatment completely prevented such alterations maintaining D-xylose absorption within normal limits.