Complement plays an important role in gastric mucosal damage induced by ischemia-reperfusion in rats

Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) of stomach causes gastric mucosal injury. Comple ment can also cause tissue damage, however its role in gastric I/R injury h as not been thoroughly investigated. We evaluated the effect of complement suppression in reducing damage to the gastric epithelium caused by local I/ R. Local gastric ischemia was induced by clamping the left gastric artery. The blood-to-lumen clearance of Cr-51-labeled EDTA (Cr-51-EDTA) served as a n index of epithelial damage. Cr-51-EDTA clearance increased shortly after reperfusion with peak values at 10 min. Intraperitoneal administration of c obra venom factor (CVF; 50 units) prior to UR, which reduced the serum comp lement value (CH50) to an undetectable level, remarkably suppressed the Cr- 51-EDTA clearance following reperfusion. A monocarboxylic acid derivative o f K-76 (K-76 COOH) reduced the CH50 by more than 30% (100mg/kg) and 60% (20 0mg/kg). Rats pretreated with K-76 significantly attenuated the increase in Cr-51-EDTA clearance produced by I/R. These results suggest that complemen t inhibitor could be used to protect gastric mucosal injury induced by loca l I/R stress. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.