{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T11:26:32Z","timestamp":1787052392808,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787011200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diseases"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: Intestinal ischemia\u2013reperfusion injury (IRI) remains a major clinical challenge associated with substantial morbidity. Although the biological functions of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) have been extensively investigated, evidence regarding the direct administration of exogenous recombinant IGF-I in experimental intestinal IRI remains limited. This study evaluated the histological effects of recombinant IGF-I administered at different time points in a rat model of intestinal IRI. Methods: Male Wistar rats underwent 45 min of superior mesenteric artery occlusion followed by 3 h of reperfusion. Animals were allocated to five groups: Sham, untreated Control, and three IGF-I-treated groups receiving intraperitoneal recombinant IGF-I before ischemia, during ischemia, or at reperfusion. Histological injury was assessed using the Chiu grading system (0\u20135). Data were analyzed using non-parametric statistical methods. Results: Forty-five rats were included in the final analysis. Untreated controls demonstrated the greatest mucosal injury (median Chiu score: 4, IQR: 3\u20134), whereas Sham-operated animals exhibited minimal injury (median: 0, IQR: 0\u20131). All IGF-I-treated groups demonstrated lower median histological injury scores (median: 2), with the lowest median observed in the reperfusion group (IQR: 1\u20133). However, none of the individual comparisons with untreated controls remained statistically significant after Bonferroni correction. A post hoc exploratory pooled analysis demonstrated a similar histological pattern but likewise did not show a statistically significant difference between pooled IGF-I-treated animals and controls after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Conclusions: In this experimental rat model, exogenous recombinant IGF-I administration was consistently associated with lower histological injury scores than untreated ischemia\u2013reperfusion controls, although a definitive treatment effect could not be established. These findings provide additional experimental evidence regarding the histological effects of recombinant IGF-I in intestinal ischemia\u2013reperfusion injury and support further investigation in larger experimental studies incorporating quantitative histological, molecular, and functional endpoints.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diseases14080300","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T10:22:52Z","timestamp":1787048572000},"page":"300","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Histological Evaluation of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I in Experimental Intestinal Ischemia\u2013Reperfusion Injury: A Rat Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8241-6549","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Apostolos","family":"Andronikou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"5th Department of Surgery, Ippokratio General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece"},{"name":"Department of Surgery, General Hospital of Mytilene, 81100 Mytilene, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1539-4124","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dimitra","family":"Psalla","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0007-7963-9462","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rafail","family":"Ioannidis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, General Hospital of Drama, 66100 Drama, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Apostolos","family":"Papalois","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"2nd Department of Surgery, Aretaieion University Hospital, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11528 Athens, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Stavros","family":"Iliadis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Biological Chemistry, Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8135-1149","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Konstantina","family":"Dinaki","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Apostolos","family":"Kamparoudis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"5th Department of Surgery, Ippokratio General Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"681","DOI":"10.1097\/SHK.0000000000000890","article-title":"Protection by the Eph-Ephrin System Against Mesenteric Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury","volume":"48","author":"Vivo","year":"2017","journal-title":"Shock"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"233","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jss.2016.12.023","article-title":"Attenuation of Intestinal Ischemia-Reperfusion-Injury by \u03b2-Alanine: A Potentially Glycine-Receptor Mediated Effect","volume":"211","author":"Brencher","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. 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