INTRODUCTIONSystemic inflammator y response syndrome (SIRS) and multiple organ failure (MOF) still continue to be leading causes of morbidity and mortality in severe burn patients [1,2] . The intestine is considered to be the critical organ in the development of organ dysfunction in trauma, burns, and intensive care unit patients [3] . Thermal injury is accompanied by complex events that exert deleterious effects on various organs, such as the small intestine, distant from the original burn wound. Following thermal injury, the small intestine is subjected to ischemia, and consequently, especially during burn resuscitation, reperfusion injury occurs [4] . Intestinal ischemia-reperfusion results in organ injury through both tissue hypoxia and reperfusion phenomena mediated by neutrophils [5,6] . A variety of cytokines are released into the microcirculation by neutrophils, endothelial cells and monocytes during phases of hypoxia and reperfusion [7,8] . Although the pathophysiological basis of organ damage remains unclear, there is increasing evidence that leukocyte infiltration into intestinal tissue plays an important role in bacterial or endotoxin translocation and development of SIRS after thermal injury [9][10][11][12] . A lot of evidence indicates that endogenous Carbon (CO), a by-product of inducible heme oxygenase (HO-1) Abstract AIM: To determine whether Carbon (CO) liberated from CO-releasing molecules attenuates leukocyte infiltration in the small intestine of thermally injured mice.METHODS: Thirty-six mice were assigned to four groups. Mice in the sham group (n = 9) were underwent to sham thermal injury; mice in the burn group (n = 9) received 15% total body surface area full-thickness thermal injury; mice in the burn + CORM-2 group (n = 9) were underwent to the same thermal injury with immediate administration of tricarbonyldichlororut henium (Ⅱ) dimer CORM-2 (8 mg/kg, i.v.); and mice in the burn+DMSO group (n = 9) were underwent to the same thermal injury with immediate administration of 160 μL bolus injection of 0.5% DMSO/saline. Histological alterations and granulocyte infiltration of the small intestine were assessed. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil (PMN) accumulation (myeloperoxidase assay) was assessed in mice mid-ileum. Activation of nuclear factor (NF)-κΒ, expression levels of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and inducible heme oxygenase in mid-ileum were assessed.
RESULTS:Treatment of thermally injured mice with CORM-2 attenuated PMN accumulation and prevented activation of NF-κΒ in the small intestine. This was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of ICAM-1. In parallel, burn-induced granulocyte infiltration in midileum was markedly decreased in the burn mice treated with CORM-2.