The intestinal mucosal lesions in shock. II. The relationship between the mucosal lesions and the cardiovascular derangement following regional shock.

The relationship between the mucosal lesions in the gut, observed after a 2-hour period of regional hypotension, and the blood pressure fall seen after the hypotensive period was investigated in cats. Untreated controls were compared to animals treated with intraluminal perfusion with nitrogenated or oxygenated saline or treated with intraluminal instillation of albumin, activated charcoal or aprotinin or i.v. injections of methylprednisolone. Untreated controls and cats perfused with nitrogenated saline exhibited a pronounced reduction in arterial blood pressure during the first posthypotensive hour. In the animals treated with methylprednisolone or perfused intraluminally with oxygenated saline only a small fall of blood pressure was observed. In the remaining groups of animals a moderate blood pressure reduction was noted. These results suggest a causal relationship between the intestinal mucosal damage and the posthypotensive cardiovascular derangement possibly via the release of cardiotoxic material from the hypoxic intestinal villi.