International Journal of Preventive Medicine (Int J Prev Med)2008-780251201302161049ENCandidate in Nutrition Sciences, Department of Nutrition, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran20130216<p><strong>Context:</strong> Sepsis is one of the major causes of death in intensive care units. Oxidative stress and hyper-inflammation has been shown to be major cause of mortality and morbidity in septic cases. Pomegranate is a fruit considered for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.<br /><strong>Aims:</strong> The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of a standard pomegranate fruit liquid extract&nbsp; (POMx), on mortality and peritoneal bacterial load in cecal ligation and perforation (CLP) sepsis model. Settings and Design:Male wistar rats were divided into four groups of 24 each: sham; CLP; prevention (consumed POMx [250 mg of polyphenols/kg/day] for 4 weeks before CLP); treatment(received a single drink of POMx [250 mg of polyphenols/kg] after CLP). Each group was divided in to three subgroups, each containing eight animals, for bacterial load and survival (with and without antibiotics) studies.<br /><strong>Methods:</strong>Sepsis was induced by CLP surgery. Ten day survival rate were recorded. Peritoneal bacterial load was also assessed. Statistical Analysis Used:Log-rank and Kruskal-Wallis tests.<br /><strong>Results:</strong>There was no significant difference in survival <br />rate of CLP, prevention and treatment groups, in subgroups <br />without antibiotics. However, in subgroups with antibiotics, the prevention group had significantly lower survival rate than sham group (P&lt; 0.05). Conversely, the bacterial load of prevention and treatment group were significantly higher than sham group (P&lt; 0.01).<br /><strong>Conclusions:</strong>Our study demonstrates for the first time that <br />pomegranate extract could increase mortality rate via increasing peritoneal cavity bacterial load, in CLP sepsis model. More studies to assess mechanisms of this effect are warranted.<br /><strong>Keywords:</strong>Bacterial load, cecal ligation and perforation, mortality, <br />pomegranate, sepsis, survival rate</p>http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/view/1062http://ijpm.mui.ac.ir/index.php/ijpm/article/download/1062/1337