We studied the effect of hyperthermia pretreatment on subsequent small intestinal ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury in the rat. Systemic hyperthermia has been reported to induce heat shock proteins (HSPs) in several organs [1-6]. We examined the expression of HSP72 in the small intestinal mucosa using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. We monitored energy metabolism using magnetic resonance spectroscopy continuously during a 60-min ischemia and the following 120 min of reperfusion. Expression of HSP72 in the small intestine was significantly increased at 6-8 h after hyperthermia. Intestinal ischemia was induced by clamping the superior mesenteric artery. Heating of the rat conferred substantial resistance to the I/R injury. In the untreated rats, beta-ATP decreased during ischemia (37.1 +/- 15.5% of the pre-ischemic value) and recovered on reperfusion, but reached only approximately 50% of the pre-ischemic value after 120 min of reperfusion. However, beta-ATP in the pretreated rats was maintained during ischemia at significantly higher levels and on reperfusion reached approximately 80% of the pre-ischemic value. These results indicate that hyperthermia protects the rat intestine from the I/R injury by unknown mechanisms which may include the induction of HSPs.
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