Biomedical Research

Sepsis is a complex syndrome which comes out after infection, characterized by activation of inflammation and infection and has a high morbidity and mortality. Sildenafil (SLD) is a selective Phosphodiesterase Type 5 (PDE-5) enzyme inhibitor and is used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction effectively all over the world. In this study, we investigated whether sildenafil had protective effect or not by studying the effect of sildenafil on reactive oxygen species and antioxidants in Cecal Ligation and Puncture (CLP) polymicrobial sepsis model in rat liver histopathologically and biochemically. Rats were divided into four groups: 1) 10 mg/kg SLD given CLP group; 2) 20 mg/kg SLD given CLP group; 3) CLP group; 4) SHAM operated group. CLP polymicrobial sepsis model was applied to the rats. All rats in our study were sacrificed by overdose general anesthetic after 16 hours (thiopental sodium, 50 mg/kg). Specimens of rat liver were analyzed histopathologically and biochemically. In the study, Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Glutathione (GSH) parameters were measured to indicate the antioxidant activity in liver during sepsis. To evaluate the oxidant activity, Myeloperoxidase (MPO) and Lipid Peroxidation (LPO) parameters were measured in liver tissue. SOD and MPO activities and GSH and LPO levels were high in CLP polymicrobial sepsis model when compared to SHAM group (P<0.05). In all sildenafil groups, GSH levels were high when compared to CLP group. In 20 mg/kg sildenafil given sepsis group, high GSH levels were observed according to SHAM group. In addition, while all sildenafil dose groups had a significant decrease versus CLP group in LPO levels (P<0.05), they had a significant increase in MPO activities. In 20 mg/kg sildenafil administrated rats, an improvement observed in biochemical parameters. In this study, SOD and MPO activities which were low in SHAM group increased in CLP polymicrobial sepsis model. When SLD administrated, MPO activity increased in both SHAM and CLP groups. In this study, GSH and LPO levels also increase in septic liver tissue. When SLD administrated to SHAM group, it increased protective GSH level and decreased detrimental LPO level. In histopathological examination, it was observed that 10 mg/kg sildenafil administration had a curative effect in liver tissue partly. In conclusion, it was shown that acute sildenafil administration decreased liver damage in septic rats dose-dependently in this study. In addition, it was observed that it corrected the broken oxidant-antioxidant balance. This might mediate the protective effect of sildenafil in liver. But we believe that new experimental and clinical studies should be in future to understand the protective effect of sildenafil in liver.

Author(s): Serkan Cerrah, Cadirci Elif, Okcu Nihat, Ozcan Deveci
Abstract | Full-Text | PDF

Share this