Protective Effect of Crataegus Hydroalcoholic Extract on Intestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in a Rat Model

Objective- This study examined the effect of Crataegus hydroalcoholic extract (CHE) on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in rats. Design- Experimental study Animals- 25 adult male Wistar rats Procedures- Rats weighing 200±25 g were randomly divided into five individual groups as follows: sham group without intestinal I/R, control group with intestinal I/R, and treatment groups with intestinal I/R and 10 days oral administration of CHE at doses of 25, 50 and 100 mg/kg. Intestinal I/R was accomplished by occlusion of the cranial mesenteric artery for 30 min, followed by 60 min reperfusion. Then tissue sections of jejunum were prepared and stained with hematoxylin-eosin. Histopathological lesions including hyperemia, hemorrhage, necrohemorrhagic inflammation, and villi destruction were scored as mild, moderate and severe. Results- In histopathologic evaluation, sham and control group showed the minimum and maximum injury, respectively. The mean scores of necrohemorrhagic inflammation and villi destruction significantly decreased in 25 mg/kg CHE group compared to control. However, hyperemia and hemorrhage did not change in comparison to control (p>0.007). In the group of 50 mg/kg CHE, no pathologic lesions were observed and the results were similar to those in the sham group. The mean scores of hyperemia and necrohemorrhagic inflammation in the 100 mg/kg CHE group had no significant difference with the control group. However, the mean rank of hemorrhage and villi destruction was significantly lower than control and higher than the sham group (p<0.007). Conclusion and clinical relevance- The findings of this study indicate that CHE at the dose of 50 mg/kg has the most protective effect against intestinal I/R injury in a rat model. Therefore, Crataegus can be a promising compound against intestinal I/R injuries.