Gastroenterology
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This study examines the effect of increasing duration of intestinal ischemia on the mucosal integrity and the release of the enzyme diamine oxidase from the small intestine. Acute ischemia was produced by the occlusion of the superior mesenteric artery, and the subsequent changes in DNA and 125I-albumin content in the lumen were taken as indices of intestinal lesions. Diamine oxidase activity was measured in the intestinal lumen, mucosa, lymph, and serum. ⋯ Increases in the diamine oxidase activity were also observed in the intestinal lymph and serum, reaching levels that were 2.6 and 3.6 times that of the control respectively after 60 min of ischemia. These findings suggest that intestinal ischemia reduces the diamine oxidase content in the intestinal mucosa by desquamation of the surface epithelial cells and by releasing the enzyme into the intestinal interstitial fluid, from which at least a portion is transported to the blood via the lymphatics. The early release of diamine oxidase seems to occur before the mucosal barrier is broken.