Yang Cheng-guang, Yu Song, Wang Zhi-gang, Zheng Qi
Department of General Surgery, The Sixth Hospital Affiliated of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
Zhonghua Wei Chang Wai Ke Za Zhi. 2011 Jun;14(6):455-8.
To investigate the effect of the expression of ghrelin receptors on the postoperative small intestine dysmotility in rat models.
The effect of different concentrations of ghrelin (0, 0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 μmol/L) on the contraction of smooth muscle strips of rat small intestine in the presence or absence of carbachol was observed in vitro. End-to-side anastomosis was performed in the study group and sham controls were used. The expression of ghrelin receptors(GHS-R1a) in small intestine muscle layers was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blot.
In vitro, ghrelin enhanced the contraction of smooth muscle strips in the presence of carbachol, and the differences in contraction induced by different concentrations of ghrelin(0.1, 0.5, 1.0 μmol/L) were statistically significant [(223±18)%, (245±22)%, (264±25)%, P<0.01]. Immunohistochemistry study showed that GHS-R1a mainly located in the muscular layer of the bowel wall. The expression of GHS-R1a in the circular and longitudinal muscle was significantly weaker than that in the control group. The expression of ghrelin receptors after surgery was down-regulated in the study group, which was lower than that in the control group(0.51±0.02 vs. 0.71±0.01, P<0.01).
Down regulation of ghrelin receptors in small intestine muscle layers may contribute to the occurrence of small intestine dysmotility after intestinal surgery.
