The effects of oleuropein on lung and heart injury in cecal ligation and puncture - induced sepsis

Aim: Sepsis is a fatal serious clinical disorder. The oxidative stress

in sepsis plays an important role in the inflammation. Therefore, the

effects of oleuropein (OLE) and ceftriaxone (CEFT) on sepsis were

investigated in this study.

Materials and Methods: Thirty male rats were divided into five

equal groups: Sham, Sepsis, CEFT, OLE-150 and OLE-300, The

150 mg/kg of ceftriaxone (i.p.), and 150 and 300 mg/kg OLE (p.o.)

were administered to the treatment groups fifteen minutes before

the experiment. After 24 hours, blood samples, lungs and hearts tissues were taken. The creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities in serum, lipid peroxidation (LPO), glutathione

(GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels were

all determined. In addition, the expressions of the interleukin (IL)-8

in lung and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α in heart were pathologically and immunohistochemically were determined.

Results: Sepsis caused significant increases in CK, LDH, LPO, GSH

and heart CAT activity and caused inhibition of SOD and lung CAT

activity (p<0.001). The OLE significantly decreased the LPO and GSH

levels (p<0.001) and increased the SOD in activity of both tissues

and CAT activity in lung tissue (p<0.001). Moreover, CEFT significantly decreased the LPO level (p<0.01) and increased tissue SOD

and CAT activities in lung tissue (p<0.001). CK and LDH activities in

serum showed marked decrease in OLE and CEFT groups (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Antioxidant and a notable anti-inflammatory effect of

OLE by reducing IL-8 and TNF-α levels have been stated. Thus, a

strong antioxidant, such as OLE, would be beneficial for the treatment of sepsis.