Abstract

Bacterial Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a glycolipid component of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria and is an endotoxin implicated in triggering sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis and its sequelae represent a continuum of clinical syndrome encompassing systemic inflammation, coagulopathy, abnormalities of the renal, hepatic, pulmonary, and hematologic systems followed by multi-organ failure. NutriSim©, a nutritional supplement, has previously been tested in an experimental model of septic shock; for example, a single dose of NutriSim© diminishes significantly the production of serum proinflammatory cytokines, attenuates the oxidative stress markers and preserves membrane fluidity in rat liver mitochondria. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the protective effect of NutriSim© on survival and histological alterations in liver, kidney and lung associated with endotoxic shock induced by LPS. The results in this work showed that treatment with a single dose of NutriSim© 15 min prior or after LPS challenge, effectively protects the morphological damage in vital organs such as liver, kidney and lung, and improved the survival rate of LPS-treated rats. In conclusion, a single dose of NutriSim© in a septic shock model induced by LPS appears to effectively protect vital organ damage from morphological injury and reduces mortality.

Keywords: NutriSim©; Septic shock; Survival; Liver; Lipopolysaccharide