The objective of the current work aimed to investigate whether
carvedilol is an effective antishock agent in the well established in vivo
ischemia/reperfusion model of splanchnic artery occlusion shock. Also, to
investigate the mechanism of this protection, such as antioxidant
properties, preservation of endothelial function, and inhibition of
neutrophil accumulation and adhesion. For this study, 36 rats weighing
120-200gm were selected. They were classified into 4 groups; control,
splanchnic ischemia-reperfusion (SI/R), SI/R rats injected by 0.5mg/kg
carvedilol and SI/R rats injected by 1.0 mg/kg carvedilol. Each group
was formed of 9 rats. The results obtained showed that; hematocrite,
tissue malondialdehyde (MDA), and tissue myeloperoxidase (MPO) were
significantly increased (p<0.001) while plasma MDA and anti MPO were
non-significantly increased in ischemic-reperfusion group compared with
the control group. Comparative study of injected groups versus noninjected
SI/R group, the result showed that; significant decrease of
hematocrite (p<0.01), tissue MDA (p<0.001) and MPO (p<0.001) while
plasma MDA and anti MPO were non-significantly changed in SI/R rats
injected with 1.0 mg/Kg carvedilol. Mean while, SI/R rats injected with
0.5mg/Kg carvedilol showed non significant changes of all studied
biochemical parameters when compared with the non-injected SI/R rats.
We could conclude that; carvedilol pretreatment leads to
amelioration of the adverse effects of SI/R shock by scavenging oxygen
free radicals, counteracting the increased microvascular permeability
and inhibiting the adhesion and activation of neutrophils in this model of
splanchnic ischemia/reperfusion.