Abstract
We studied the effect of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) on intestinal production of cytokines and activation of transcription factors in sepsis. Septic rats, induced by intraperitoneal lipopolysaccharide (LPS) (5 mg/kg), were treated with intravenous HES (16 ml/kg) or saline (64 ml/kg). Rat ileal tissues were collected at 2 h, 3 h or 6 h after LPS challenge. Levels of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), interleukin (IL) 1β, IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10, cytokine mRNAs, activities of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) and activator protein-1 (AP-1), and the number of ileal myeloperoxidase (MPO)-positive cells were determined for each group. HES significantly reduced the LPS-induced increase in intestinal levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8 and their corresponding mRNAs. HES also decreased the number of MPO-positive cells induced by LPS and inhibited activation of NF-κB and AP-1. The results suggest that in sepsis, HES may down-regulate intestinal pro-inflammatory cytokine production via suppression of NF-κB and AP-1 activation.