To investigate the potential mechanism of propofol in improving intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IIRI).

SD rats were randomly divided into sham group, model group (the superior mesenteric artery was clamped for 45 min and reperfusion for 2 h), experimental-L group (injection of 30 mg·kg^-1 propofol before ischemia), experimental-M group (injection of 45 mg·kg^-1 propofol before ischemia), experimental-H group (injection of 60 mg·kg^-1 propofol before ischemia); after reperfusion, the rats were killed and intestinal tissues were taken for use. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the intestinal histopathological changes, Western blot assay was used to detect the expression of Bcl-2 antagonist killer(BAK), Bcl-2 associated X(BAX) and other proteins, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) assay was used to detect the expression of cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The enzyme activity and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the expression of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and interleukin (IL)-1β in intestinal tissue.

The pathological injury scores (Chiu’s methods) in sham group, model group, experimental-L group, experimental-M group and experimental-H group were (0±0), (4.20±0.60), (3.00±0.45), (2.20±0.40) and (1.00±0.77) points, respectively; the relative expression levels of BAK protein were 0.24±0.03, 0.66±0.08, 0.56±0.08, 0.40±0.05 and 0.34±0.03, respectively; the relative expression levels of BAX protein were 0.35±0.03, 0.79±0.11, 0.62±0.03, 0.51±0.05 and 0.40±0.04, respectively; the relative expression levels of NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3 (NLRP3) protein were 0.32±0.03, 1.05±0.12, 0.81±0.11, 0.64±0.08 and 0.49±0.08, respectively; the relative expression levels of Cyclic guanosine monophosphate adenosine synthase (cGAS) protein were 0.23±0.02, 0.97±0.10, 0.78±0.08, 0.63±0.07 and 0.45±0.07, respectively; the relative expression levels of the NADH dehydrogenase subunit (ND)1 mRNA were 1.00±0.08, 2.23±0.29, 1.79±0.13, 1.59±0.11 and 1.34±0.09, respectively; the levels of ATP production were 1.00±0.14, 0.47±0.03, 0.65±0.07, 0.80±0.06 and 0.81±0.12, respectively. Compared model group with the sham group and compared experimental-L, M, H group with model group, the differences of above indicators were all statistically significant (all P<0.05).

Propofol can dose-dependently improve intestinal injury in IIRI rats and this protective effect was accompanied by downregulation of BAK/BAX protein expression, reduction of mtDNA release, and decreased activity of the downstream cGAS/NLRP3 inflammatory pathway.