Mitigative effects of chloroquine treatment against hypoxia-induced intestinal injury: a histological and immunohistochemical study Hipoksiye bağlı bağırsak hasarına karşı klorokin tedavisinin hafifletici etkileri: histolojik ve immünohistokimyasal bir çalışma


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AKİN A. T., KAYMAK E., Öztürk E., Ceylan T., Yalçin B., BAŞARAN K. E., ...More

Turk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi, vol.79, no.1, pp.59-70, 2022 (Scopus) identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 79 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.5505/turkhijyen.2022.78476
  • Journal Name: Turk Hijyen ve Deneysel Biyoloji Dergisi
  • Journal Indexes: Scopus, Academic Search Premier, CAB Abstracts, Veterinary Science Database, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Page Numbers: pp.59-70
  • Keywords: Apoptosis, Apoptozis, bağırsak, chloroquine, hipoksi, hypoxia, intestine, klorokuin, TNF-α, TNF-α
  • Kayseri University Affiliated: No

Abstract

© 2022. All Rights Reserved.Objective: Hypoxia has an important role in the disruption of intestinal mucosal integrity because of inflammation and apoptosis induced by inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a (Tumor necrosis factor-alpha), IL-6 and IFN-y, and apoptotic regulatory proteins. Chloroquine (CLQ) is a drug used in the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and is widely used for the treatment of many inflammatory diseases such as malaria and rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, we aimed to reduce the destructive effects of hypoxia-induced inflammation and apoptosis in the intestinal mucosa of rats with CLQ applications. Methods: For this purpose, a total of 24 Wistar Albino rats were randomly divided into three groups; Group I: Control group (n=8), Group II: Hypoxia (n=8) and Group III: Hypoxia + CLQ (n=8). The control group was housed in plexiglass cages to keep the oxygen levels at 10% levels for 28 days, while the hypoxia and hypoxia+CLQ groups were housed in a normal atmospheric environment (21% O2), and the hypoxia+CLQ group was administered CLQ at a dose of 50 mg/kg every day for 28 days. At the end of the experiment, the intestinal tissues of the experimental animals, were extracted under the anesthesia and they were sacrificed. Results: As a result of histopathological evaluations, it was determined that CLQ applications showed healing properties on the histopathological effects induced by hypoxia in the intestine. While an increase in TNF-α expression was observed in the hypoxia group, a statistically significant decrease was detected in the hypoxia+CLQ group. In addition, Bax expression was found to be statistically significantly lower in the hypoxia+CLQ group when compared to the hypoxia group. On the contrary, it was observed that Bcl-2 expression was statistically significantly increased in the hypoxia+CLQ group compared to the Hypoxia group. Conclusion: We observed that hypoxia causes significant damage to the intestinal mucosa and triggers a severe inflammation that drives cells to apoptosis. Considering the curative effects of chloroquine on the intestinal mucosa, we suggest that this anti-inflammatory drug has a potential to use clinically to alleviate the deleterious effects of hypoxia in the intestine.