The early changes of colon motility in the rats after liver transplantation

The purpose of this study was to explore the early changes of colon motility in rats after liver transplantation. Thirty Wistar rats were divided into a sham operation group (n = 10) and a liver transplantation group (n = 10 pairs). The number of stools, the contractility of muscle strips, the length of smooth muscle cells, the levels of plasma endotoxin, the morphological changes, and the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in the colon of the rats were observed in the two groups. N(6)-(iminoethyl)-L-lysine (L-NIL, a selective iNOS antagonist) was used to confirm the activity of iNOS in the contractility of colonic motility. We observed the changes of nitrogen monoxide (NO) in plasma and colon mucosa of the two groups. Results showed that the liver transplantation group compared with the sham operation group showed significantly decreased contractility of the colon with significant differences in the morphological changes in rat colon. The expression of iNOS protein and iNOSmRNA was significantly increased in the liver transplantation group. The concentrations of plasma and colon mucosa NO and the levels of endotoxin were higher among the liver transplantation group than the sham operation group (P < .05). When the strips and cells of smooth muscle from the liver transplantation group were treated with L-NIL, their contractility increased. We concluded that colon motility decreased in the rats after transplantation, which could be related to the levels of plasma endotoxin and iNOS expressing in the colon.