Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026
Rodent Model of Intestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury via Occlusion of the Superior Mesenteric Artery
Published on: October 20, 2023
Hypocapnia attenuates mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion injury in a rat model
Michelle Duggan1, Doreen Engelberts, Robert P Jankov
1Lung Biology Program, The Research Institute and the Department of Critical Care Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada.
Purpose:
Hypocapnia, a recognized complication of high frequency oscillation ventilation, has multiple adverse effects on lung and brain physiology in vivo, including potentiation of free radical injury. We hypothesized that hypocapnia would potentiate the effects of mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion on bowel, liver and lung injury.
Methods:
Anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats were ventilated with high frequency oscillation and were randomized to one of four groups, exposed to either mesenteric ischemia-reperfusion or sham surgery, and to either hypocapnia or normocapnia.
Results:
All animals survived the protocol. Ischemia-reperfusion caused significant histologic bowel injury. Bowel 8-isoprostane generation was greater in ischemia-reperfusion vs sham, but was attenuated by hypocapnia. Laser-Doppler flow studies of bowel perfusion confirmed that hypocapnia attenuated reperfusion following ischemia. Plasma alanine transaminase, reflecting overall hepatocellular injury, was not increased by ischemia-reperfusion but was increased by hypocapnia; however, hepatic isoprostane generation was increased by ischemia-reperfusion, and not by hypocapnia. Oxygenation was comparable in all groups, and compliance was impaired by ischemia-reperfusion but not by hypocapnia.
Conclusion:
Hypocapnia, although directly injurious to the liver, attenuates ischemia-reperfusion induced lipid peroxidation in the bowel, possibly through attenuation of blood flow during reperfusion.
