The recovery effects of Perinereis aibuhitensis Grube added to enteral immune-enhancing nutrition in severely burned mice

Abstract

The recovery effects of Perinereis aibuhitensis Grube added to early enteral nutrition (EEN) were investigated. P. aibuhitensis is a good source of high-quality protein (47.21% essential amino acids/total amino acids). Deep second degree scaled mice and controls were randomly assigned to six groups (n = 12/group): treatment group A (TGA, 40% clamworm protein among the total protein w/w), treatment group B (TGB, 30%), treatment group C (TGC, 20%), a positive control group (PCG), a blank group (BG) and a control group (CG). The TGA obviously regained the body weight on post-burn day (PBD) 14 (p < 0.05). The total protein and albumin levels were higher in TGA than in PCG at each time point and increased significantly on the last day of the experiment (p < 0.05). The interleukin-1 levels of the EN groups exhibited no significant differences from those of CG, while the tumor necrosis factor-α levels of burned mice were significantly increased compared with CG on PBD 1 (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the endotoxin levels of the EN groups were downregulated on PBD 14 versus BG, and only TGA decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The synthesis and release of vascular endothelial growth factor in scald tissue were increased in the experimental groups in comparison to BG at all time points, and significant differences were observed between TGA and BG on PBD 2, 7 and 14 (p < 0.05). Overall, an EN diet with P. aibuhitensis protein at a proportion of 40% of the total protein promotes wound recovery by improving tissue reconstruction and selected immunological and nutritional variables.