Brief Article
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World J Gastroenterol. May 28, 2010; 16(20): 2537-2541
Published online May 28, 2010. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v16.i20.2537
Anti-inflammatory efficiency of levobupivacaine in an experimental colitis model
Ugur Duman, Aysun Yilmazlar, Ersin Ozturk, Sibel Aker, Emre Sarandol, Tuncay Yilmazlar
Ugur Duman, Ersin Ozturk, Tuncay Yilmazlar, Department of General Surgery, Uludag University School of Medicine, 16069 Bursa, Turkey
Aysun Yilmazlar, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Uludag University School of Medicine, 16069 Bursa, Turkey
Sibel Aker, Department of Pathology, Uludag University School of Medicine, 16069 Bursa, Turkey
Emre Sarandol, Department of Biochemistry, Uludag University School of Medicine, 16069 Bursa, Turkey
Author contributions: Duman U, Ozturk E, Yilmazlar T and Yilmazlar A designed the research; Duman U and Yilmazlar A performed the research; Aker S and Sarandol E contributed the new reagents/analytic tools; Ozturk E and Yilmazlar T analyzed the data; Duman U, Ozturk E, Yilmazlar T and Yilmazlar A wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Aysun Yilmazlar, Professor, Department of Anesthesiology and Reanimation, Uludag University School of Medicine, Gorukle, 16069 Bursa, Turkey. tunyil@uludag.edu.tr
Telephone: +90-224-2954475 Fax: +90-224-4429883
Received: February 6, 2010
Revised: March 10, 2010
Accepted: March 17, 2010
Published online: May 28, 2010
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the efficiency of levobupivacaine in treating experimentally induced colitis in rats.

METHODS: Colitis was induced by trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid and ethanol in 30 rats under general anesthesia, and 10 rats were used as a sham group. Subsequent to induction of colitis, rats were divided into three groups; budesonide group received 0.1 mg/kg budesonide, levobupivacaine group received 10 mg/kg levobupivacaine and saline group received 1 mL saline solution via rectal route for 7 d. In the sham group, only routine rectal catheterization was performed without use of any material. At the end of 7 d, laparotomy and total colectomy were performed for histopathological examination in all rats and blood samples were drawn for measurement of tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-6 following cardiac puncture. Macroscopic and microscopic evaluations of the specimens were performed by a pathologist blinded to group assignment of the rats.

RESULTS: Weight loss (P = 0.016) and macroscopic examination scores (P = 0.001) were significantly higher in saline group than others. Histopathological scoring was comparable between all colitis groups (P = 0.350). There was no significant difference in TNF-α levels and IL-6 levels (P = 0.150).

CONCLUSION: The significant improvement in macroscopic scores suggests that levobupivacaine may have topical anti-inflammatory effects in an experimental colitis model; however, this finding was not supported by microscopic findings.

Keywords: Trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid; Colitis; Levobupivacaine; Budesonide