The effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on bacterial translocation and inflammatory response in an experimental intestinal obstruction model in rats.

OBJECTIVE: Intestinal obstruc- tion (IO) is a disease which generates approxi- mately 20% of emergency surgery and tends to with high mortality. Prevention of oxidative stress, bacterial translocation and tissue dam- age caused by IO is an important medical issue. Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) is an anti-in- flammatory, antioxidant, anti-bacterial and im- munomodulatory agent. In this experimental study, we aimed to investigate the effects of CAPE on bacterial translocation, inflammatory response, oxidative stress and tissue injury caused by intestinal obstruction in a rat model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Breafly, thirty Wistar albino rats divided into three groups as Sham (n=10), IO (n=10) and IO + CAPE (10 µmol/kg day, intraperitoneal) (n=10). The tissues from the study groups were examined biochemi- cally, microbiologically and histopathologically. RESULTS: In CAPE treated group, decreased serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF- α, IL- 6, IL-1β) and CRP (p < 0.05), additionally in- creased serum levels of antioxidant parameters (PONS, TAS) (p < 0.05), were observed after IO. Microbiologically, the rates of positive cultures of the lymph node, spleen, liver and blood were significantly decreased in CAPE treated group compared to the IO group. Also histopathologi- cal examination showed that the intestinal mu- cosal injury score and hepatic portal inflamma- tion score were significantly decreased in the CAPE treated group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that intraperi- toneal administration of CAPE might has poten- tial antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant