Croatica Chemica Acta, Vol. 78 No. 4, 2005.
Original scientific paper
Alpha-Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone Reduces Colonic Damage in Rat Model of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Duška Tješić-Drinković
Dorian Tješić-Drinković
Nikola Štambuk
Paško Konjevoda
Ana Votava-Raić
Marijana Vinković
Dražen Vikić-Topić
Abstract
The aim of the study was to investigate the dose-dependent in vivo effect of alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α- MSH) in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease induced by 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS). Laboratory animals (male Wistar rats weighing 200–250 g) were given 3 doses of α- MSH (0.5 mg/kg, 1 mg/kg, 2 mg/kg) intraperitoneally 1 hour prior to inducing colitis with a TNBS enema. Control animals received saline solution i.p. Rats were sacrificed after 72 hours and the area of mucosal lesions, involving the distal 10 cm of colon, was determined in mm2 by means of image analysis software. α- MSH structure was analyzed by means of NMR spectroscopy. The area of colonic damage was significantly reduced following pretreatment with a single dose of 1 mg/kg α- MSH, as compared to control animals (p = 0.0147). Higher and lower doses had no significant effects. A single dose of 1 mg/kg α- MSH provided strong, statistically significant and pharmacologically relevant cytoprotection. The results point to α- MSH effectiveness in controlling inflammation and imply that further in vitro and in vivo experiments should be carried out to judge the importance and relevance of α- MSH in the control of inflammatory bowel disease. NMR data support a hairpin loop conformation of α- MSH in water solution, which includes conserved message sequence.
Keywords
inflammatory bowel disease; α- MSH; NMR; TNBS; colitis; cytoprotection
Hrčak ID:
2541
URI
Publication date:
20.12.2005.
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