[Ulinastatin attenuates hyper-permeability of vascular endothelialium cells induced by serum from patients with...

Objective To study the effect of ulinastatin (UTI) on the hyper-permeability of human umbilical vein endothelial cell induced by the serum from patients with severe sepsis. Methods The serum level of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) was examined by ELISA in 5 healthy volunteers and 5 patients with septic shock. EA.hy926 human umbilical vein endothelial cells were cultured in vitro and treated with different concentrations of UTI (10, 100, 1000 U/mL), 300 μL serum of septic shock patients and 22 ng/mL TNF-α. The permeability and the electrical resistance (TER) of EA.hy926 cells were detected by a Transwell^TM chamber system and epithelial volt-ohm meter (EVOM) method, respectively. The morphological characteristics and distribution of F-actin were measured by immunofluorescence technique. Results The serum level of TNF-α in sepsis patients was significantly higher than that in healthy volunteers. After EA.hy926 cells were treated with the serum of septic shock patients, the TER significantly decreased; the cell permeability significantly increased; F-actin cytoskeleton was significantly redistributed; and intracellular stress fibers increased. But UTI could attenuate the above changes. Conclusion UTI attenuates the hyper-permeability of EA.hy926 cells induced by the serum of septic shock patients in a dose-dependent manner.