A comparative study about the immunomodulatory effects of tramadol and metamizole in a murine model of postoperative ileus

Abstract

Postoperative ileus (POI) is a common complication after abdominal surgery characterized by motility disturbances leading to increased morbidity and mortality in surgical patients. Intestinal manipulation of the murine small bowel is an established animal model resulting in an increased postsurgical inflammation within the intestinal muscular externa and a delayed gastrointestinal transit. Some analgesics have been shown to affect inflammation. In this study, we compared the immunomodulatory effects of two different analgesics. Mice were treated with tramadol, metamizole or saline as a control in our established POI model. The postoperative inflammatory response was assessed by gene expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines at different time points and immunocytes extravasation into the muscularis externa. Functional motility analyses were performed by a gastrointestinal transit measurement. Metamizole application reduced the pro-inflammatory response after surgery and improved gastrointestinal motility, while tramadol showed no alteration in cytokine gene expression, influx of immunocytes and gastrointestinal transit compared with the controls. In conclusion. we suggest tramadol as analgesia in immunological studies on POI in mice as it does not affect the underlying inflammation of POI.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Da‐Cheng‐Qi‐Tang Ameliorates Impaired Gastrointestinal Motility and Intestinal Inflammatory Response in a Mouse Model of Postoperative Ileus

“…Consistent with earlier findings, we observed a significant increase in the levels of proinflammatory cytokines in the blood of POI animals [ 10 , 29 ]. These inflammatory mediators contribute to the decreased GI motility associated with POI through various mechanisms such as direct cytotoxic effects and induction of nitric oxide (NO) and proteinoid production [ 30 ].…”

Evaluation of the effect of tramadol, paracetamol and metamizole on the severity of experimental colitis

“…A recent study showed that pain medication reduced the expression of the chemokine CXCL2 in a model of postoperative ileus. 33 Thus, we investigated whether paracetamol, tramadol or metamizole (only in chronic DSS colitis) affects cytokine and chemokine expression in DSS-induced colitis. In acute colitis, mRNA levels of Il6 , Tnfa , Il1b , Il10 , Cxcl1 and Cxcl2 were not significantly elevated upon DSS treatment and there was no difference between mice receiving DSS alone and those receiving DSS + paracetamol or DSS+tramadol (Figure 4a–f).…”