Abstract: Objective To determine whether there is a potential protective effect of HBO on abdominal organ injury which is associated with hind limb ischemia/reperfusion in rat model. Methods Adult male SD rats weighing 220～250 g were used in the study. Bilateral hind limb ischemia was induced by applying an atraumatic clip at the end of the abdominal aorta adjacent to the junction of both femoral arteries. At the end of the ischemic period, reperfusion of the limbs was achieved by releasing the clamp. The experimental animals were randomly divided into three groups, each group involved 10 rats. (1) the sham surgical group; (2) the ischemia/reperfusion(I/R) group; (3) the hyperbaric oxygen(HBO) treatment group. By using laser Doppler flowmetry, the microvascular blood flow in the liver, kidney, pancreas and small intestine of animals was measured. The mean immunofluorescence intensity of CD31, CD61 or positive percentage of CD62p were measured by the flow cytometry. Results Compared with I/R group, the microvascular blood flow of the liver and kidney in HBO treatment group was significantly increased, with a significant statistical difference(P<0.05). But the microvascular blood flow of pancreas and small intestine were not obviously changed in these three groups. In the I/R group, extensive ultrastructural histological injury of liver and kidney occurred. The ultrastructural pathological changes in the HBO treatment group were obviously alleviated. Compared with the sham surgical group, the expression of platelet membrane glycoprotein CD31, D62p in the I/R group was much higher(P<0.05). The expression of CD31, D62p in the HBO treatment group was much decreased than that in the I/R group(P<0.05). Conclusion As a kind of effective therapy, HBO can alleviate the pathological changes in abdominal organs in rat models caused by hind limb ischemia/reperfusion.

Key words: hind limb, ischemia/reperfusion, hyperbaric oxygen, laser doppler flowmetry, platelet membrane glycoprotein