Skip Navigation

British Journal of Anaesthesia 2007 98(4):484-490; doi:10.1093/bja/aem011
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow E-Letters: Submit a response to the article
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when E-letters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Hamano, N.
Right arrow Articles by Shingu, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hamano, N.
Right arrow Articles by Shingu, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?


© The Board of Management and Trustees of the British Journal of Anaesthesia 2007. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

The {alpha}2-adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine improves endotoxin-induced inhibition of gastrointestinal motility in mice

N. Hamano, T. Inada*, R. Iwata, T. Asai and K. Shingu

Department of Anaesthesiology, Kansai Medical University, Osaka, Japan

* Corresponding author: Department of Anaesthesiology, Kansai Medical University, 10-15, Fumizono-cho, Moriguchi, Osaka 570-8507, Japan. E-mail: takefumi{at}wd5.so-net.ne.jp

Background: Sepsis inhibits gastrointestinal motility. Although the exact mechanism of this is unclear, lipopolysaccharide is known to activate macrophages in the gastrointestinal wall, which upregulate their expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS). This leads to an increased production of nitric oxide, which relaxes the gastrointestinal muscles. We studied endotoxaemic mice to determine whether yohimbine improved delayed gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit.

Methods: Male Balb/c mice (n = 49) were randomly allocated to two groups, and either yohimbine 25 µg or saline was injected s.c. Four hours later, mice in each group were further randomly allocated to two groups, and either lipopolysaccharide 100 µg or saline was injected intraperitoneally. Eight hours later, liquid containing fluorescent microbeads was infused into the stomach, and 30 min later, gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit were measured using flow cytometry. We also studied whether yohimbine given after injection of lipopolysaccharide was effective (n = 22). In another group of mice (n = 32), iNOS in the gastrointestinal tract was measured using western blotting.

Results: Lipopolysaccharide significantly inhibited gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit. Yohimbine, given before or after lipopolysaccharide, significantly attenuated the inhibitory effects of lipopolysaccharide. Lipopolysaccharide increased the expression of iNOS in the small intestine and yohimbine suppressed the effects of lipopolysaccharide.

Conclusions: In endotoxaemic mice, yohimbine improved delayed gastric emptying and gastrointestinal transit, possibly by downregulating lipopolysaccharide-induced increased expression of iNOS.

Keywords: complications, sepsis; critical care; gastrointestinal tract, emptying; gastrointestinal tract, transit; sympathetic nervous system, yohimbine


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.