Effects of intestinal trefoil factor on intestinal mucus barrier in burned mice

Severe burns might cause intense inflammatory response and tissue ischemia and hypoxia, and these effects result in intestinal mucosal barrier damage. In this study, we evaluated the effects of recombinant human intestinal trefoil factor (rhITF) on the intestinal mucus barrier after burn injury. The results showed that rhITF could improve the intestinal mucosal damage index, decrease diamine oxidase (DAO) activity, reduce intestinal damage, and thereby alleviate intestinal mucous permeability. Severe burns were associated with subsequent decreases in the mucus thickness and the levels of hexose, and mucin, and rhITF administration might partially reverse these changes. Additional experiments showed that supplementation with rhITF markedly increased the mitochondrial respiratory control rate (RCR) and phosphorus-oxygen ratio (P/O) in intestinal tissue. Moreover, rhITF improved the intestinal mucosal blood flow (IMBF) and the levels of oxygen extraction (Oext), nitric oxide (NO) and ATP. These results suggest that ITF can improve the blood perfusion of the intestinal mucosa after severe burns, promote the transport of glutamine in the intestinal mucosa, improve the energy metabolism of goblet cells, stimulate goblet cell differentiation and maturation, promote the synthesis and secretion of intestinal mucus, and maintain the barrier function of intestinal mucus.