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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Bronchoalveolar Lavage Exosomes in Lipopolysaccharide-induced Septic Lung Injury
Published on: May 21, 2018
Role of using two-route ulinastatin injection to alleviate intestinal injury in septic rats
Xue-Lian Liao1, Qu-Zhen Danzeng2, Wei Zhang3
1Department of Critical Care Medicine, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China.
Purpose:
Early application of protease inhibitors through the intestinal lumen could increase survival following experimental shock by blocking the pancreatic digestive enzymes. Hence, it was hypothesized that two-route injection (intraintestinal + intravenous) of ulinastatin (UTI), a broad-spectrum protease inhibitor, could better alleviate intestinal injury than single-route injection (either intravenous or intraintestinal).
Methods:
A sepsis model induced by lipopolysaccharide on rats was established. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: sham, sepsis, UTI intravenous injection (Uiv), UTI intraintestinal injection (Uii), and UTI intraintestinal + intravenous injection (Uii + Uiv) groups. The mucosal barrier function, enzyme-blocking effect, levels of systemic inflammatory cytokines, and 5-day survival rate were compared among groups. The small intestinal villus height (VH), crypt depth (CD), and two components of mucosal barrier (E-cadherin and mucin-2) were measured to evaluate the mucosal barrier function. The levels of trypsin and neutrophil elastase (NE) in the intestine, serum, and vital organs were measured to determine the enzyme-blocking effect.
Results:
Compared with the single-route injection group (Uiv or Uii), the two-route injection (Uii + Uiv) group displayed: (1) significantly higher levels of VH, VH/CD, E-cadherin, and mucin-2; (2) decreased trypsin and NE levels in intestine, plasma, and vital organs; (3) reduced systemic inflammatory cytokine levels; and (4) improved survival of septic rats.
Conclusion:
Two-route UTI injection was superior to single-route injection in terms of alleviating intestinal injury, which might be explained by extensive blockade of proteases through different ways.
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