Objective: To study the characteristic of endothelial injuries and the mechanisms of coagulation disorder in multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in elderly rats by observing the distribution and the intensity of fibronectin (FN) expression in important viscerae including the heart, brain, lung, kidney, liver.
Methods: Fifty Wistar rats (one half of them were 3 months old, another half 20 months old) were anaesthetized and cecal ligation puncture (CLP) was done. They were defined as MODS group and MODSE group. Forty Wistar rats (one half of them 3 months old, another half 20 months old) were anaesthetized and laparotomy was done as sham operation group (SOG) and sham operation group in elderly (SOGE). The heart, brain, lung, liver and kidney were harvested and were examined histologically at 6, 12, 24, 48 or 72 hours after operation. They were also stained immunohistochemically by using anti-FN as the first antibody.
Results: The expression of FN on the surfaces of vascular endothelial cells in hearts, brains, lungs, livers, kidneys was weakly positive or positive in MODSE, MODS or SOGE group, but it was positive or strongly positive in SOG group. The differences were significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The injury of endothelial cells and the disorders of coagulation system are observed in MODSE, MODS, SOGE groups, especially in MODSE.