The AS group colon surgical wound didn’t became stronger by day 7, because it was not different from the 3AS or the 1AS groups (p> 0,05). The acquisition of tensile strength of the wound is due to the deposition and organization of the collagen, and an impaired wound healing is responsible not only for the lack of collagen, but also for disorganized collagen [1]. It is possible that the alcohol intake

was responsible for an impaired inflammation stage MK-0457 of the wound healing and magnified the deleterious effects of sepsis, such as disorganized deposition of collagen and excessive activity of matrix metalloproteases [1, 20–22]. The effects of alcohol on wound healing are dependent to the pattern of the alcohol exposure: chronic or acute abuse, the dose intake, duration of consumption, time from alcohol exposure to injury, alcohol withdrawal and associated factors such as infection, sepsis, smoking, usage of medication, obesity, diabetes, and other comorbidities [1]. Acute ethanol exposure in non-septic Selleckchem ABT 263 patients can lead to inadequate wound healing, by impairing the early inflammatory response, inhibiting wound closure, angiogenesis and collagen production, and changing the protease balance at the wound site [1], although we didn’t observe this in the septic conditions

of this study. Inflammation is a normal part of the wound healing process, and is important to the removal of contaminating

micro-organisms [1]. In the absence of effective decontamination, such as in fecal sepsis, inflammation may be prolonged, thus the next steps in wound healing, the inflammation and remodeling, can be prolonged or impaired, but not always [1]. Quisqualic acid Both bacteria and endotoxins can lead to prolonged elevation of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α, and increased levels of matrix metalloproteases (MMP) [1, 20–22]. Conclusions Sepsis and its association with ethanol led to weight loss postoperatively. Alcohol intake increased the mortality rate three times in septic selleck chemicals animals. Acute alcohol intoxication delays the acquisition of tensile strength of colonic anastomosis in septic rats. Therefore, acute alcohol intoxication before sepsis leads to worse prognosis in animal models of abdominal trauma patients. Acknowledgements This research was only possible through the support from the following institutions: 2nd/2010 grants of FINATEC (Foundation of Scientific and Technological Developments), supply of Wistar rats by the Labocien of UniCEUB (University Center of Brasilia), scientific initiation scholarships from the University of Brasília (UnB) and CNPq (National Council of Research and Development). Also thanks to Gabizao Alves for the high quality professional photos, displayed as Figures 1 and 2.