[Effects of early enteral feeding and L-arginine supplementation on liver albumin synthesis in burned rats]

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effect of early enteral feeding and L-arginine supplementation on mRNA expression of albumin, and some cytokines.

Methods: Twenty Wistar rats prepared with gastrostomy 7 days before the experiment were inflicted with 30% TBSA flame and were divided into early enteral feeding group (EF) and L-arginine enriched early enteral feeding group (AEF). All rats in two group starts enteral feeding two hours after burn. Capillary electrophoresis and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to measure the mRNA of albumin, TNFa, IL-1a, IL-6R and iNOS respectively on 1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th day post burn (PBD). Serum albumin was observed at the same time.

Results: The mRNA expression of albumin on PBD1 was reduced in both group and improved on PBD3, 6, 9. The gene expression of albumin was significantly higher in AEF group than in EF group onPBD3, 9 [(1812 +/- 41) vs (1417 plus minus 43), P < 0.01]. Similarly, serum albumin were very low in two groups on PBD1 and improved on PBD3, 6, 9. Serum albumin in AEF group was significantly higher than in EF group on PBD9 [(31.9 plus minus 2.1) g/L vs (28.1 plus minus 1.3) g/L, P < 0.01]. The mRNA of TNFalpha, IL-1alpha, IL-6R and iNOS were increased on PBD1 and reduced on PBD3, 6, 9. The gene expression of TNFalpha, IL-1alpha in AEF group were significantly lower than EF group on PBD6, while IL-6R differed significantly between AEF group and EF group [(972 +/- 87) vs (2570 +/- 90), P < 0.01] on PBD9. There were no significant difference in iNOS mRNA production after burn in two group.

Conclusion: Early enteral feeding could improve albumin biosynthesis and reduce the gene expression of TNFalpha, IL-1alpha, IL-6R and iNOS. L-arginine-supplemented early enteral feeding could further increase the gene expression of albumin possibly by reducing the expression of TNFalpha, IL-1alpha and IL-6R and did not increase the expression of iNOS.