Alterations of Intestinal Labile Zinc and Cytokine Production Following Subarachnoid Hemorrhage in Rats.

Intestinal mucosal injury can be frequently observed in the patients suffering from subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Labile zinc and inflammatory mediators participate in many pathophysiological processes. This study aimed to investigate the increase of intestinal labile zinc, wet/dry weight ratio, and the expression of inflammatory mediators after SAH. As a result, SAH caused a gradual increase of intestinal labile zinc as demonstrated by fluorescence staining with Zinpyr-4 (ZP4). The levels of TNF-α and IL-6 and the intestinal wet/dry weight ratios were higher in the SAH groups compared to the control group following SAH (p<0.05). The results suggest that SAH induces increases of labile zinc and inflammatory mediators in gut, which may participate in the pathogenesis of acute intestinal mucosal injury.