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Protective effects of l-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine on ischaemia–reperfusion-induced inflammatory reactions

European Journal of Nutrition volume 54, pages 109–118 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Choline-containing dietary phospholipids, including phosphatidylcholine (PC), may function as anti-inflammatory substances, but the mechanism remains largely unknown. We investigated the effects of l-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine (GPC), a deacylated PC derivative, in a rodent model of small intestinal ischaemia–reperfusion (IR) injury.

Methods

Anaesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control, mesenteric IR (45 min mesenteric artery occlusion, followed by 180 min reperfusion), IR with GPC pretreatment (16.56 mg kg−1 GPC i.v., 5 min prior to ischaemia) or IR with GPC post-treatment (16.56 mg kg−1 GPC i.v., 5 min prior to reperfusion) groups. Macrohaemodynamics and microhaemodynamic parameters were measured; intestinal inflammatory markers (xanthine oxidoreductase activity, superoxide and nitrotyrosine levels) and liver ATP contents were determined.

Results

The IR challenge reduced the intestinal intramural red blood cell velocity, increased the mesenteric vascular resistance, the tissue xanthine oxidoreductase activity, the superoxide production, and the nitrotyrosine levels, and the ATP content of the liver was decreased. Exogenous GPC attenuated the macro- and microcirculatory dysfunction and provided significant protection against the radical production resulting from the IR stress. The GPC pretreatment alleviated the hepatic ATP depletion, the reductions in the mean arterial pressure and superior mesenteric artery flow, and similarly to the post-treatments with GPC, also decreased the xanthine oxidoreductase activity, the intestinal superoxide production, the nitrotyrosine level, and normalized the microcirculatory dysfunction.

Conclusions

These data demonstrate the effectiveness of GPC therapies and provide indirect evidence that the anti-inflammatory effects of PC could be linked to a reaction involving the polar part of the molecule.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Edina Markó, Nikolett Beretka, Csilla Mester, and Ágnes Lilla Kovács for their valuable assistance and to Károly Tóth and Kálmán Vas for their excellent work. The study was supported by the Országos Tudományos Kutatási Alapprogram (OTKA; Hungarian Science Research Fund) OTKA K104656, and Társadalmi Megújulás Operatív Program Konvergencia Régió (TAMOP-KONV; Social Renewal Operational Programme-Regional Convergence) TÁMOP-4.2.2A-11/1/KONV-2012-0073 and TAMOP-4.2.2A-11/1-KONV -2012-0035, supported by the European Union and the State of Hungary, co-financed by the European Social Fund in the framework of TÁMOP-4.2.4.A/2-11/1-2012-0001 ‘National Excellence Program’.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Affiliations

  1. Institute of Surgical Research, University of Szeged, Pécsi u. 6., Szeged, 6720, Hungary

    Tünde Tőkés, Eszter Tuboly, Gabriella Varga, József Kaszaki & Mihály Boros

  2. Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary

    László Major

  3. Cologne, Germany

    Miklós Ghyczy

Authors
  1. Tünde Tőkés
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  2. Eszter Tuboly
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  3. Gabriella Varga
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  4. László Major
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  5. Miklós Ghyczy
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  6. József Kaszaki
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  7. Mihály Boros
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mihály Boros.

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Tünde Tőkés and Eszter Tuboly have contributed equally to this work.

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Tőkés, T., Tuboly, E., Varga, G. et al. Protective effects of l-alpha-glycerylphosphorylcholine on ischaemia–reperfusion-induced inflammatory reactions. Eur J Nutr 54, 109–118 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-014-0691-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00394-014-0691-2

Keywords

  • Rat
  • Mesenteric ischaemia–reperfusion
  • Inflammatory mediators
  • Oxidative stress
  • Nitrosative stress
  • Microcirculation