Temporal expression of IL-1β and IL-10 in rat skin, muscle, small bowel, and colon wounds: a correlative study.

Background: Cytokines play a major role in coordinated wound healing events. We hypothesized that rapid intestinal healing is due to an early upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β), followed by increases in the expression of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10.

Methods: We characterized the time course of IL-1β and IL-10 release at four wounds (skin, muscle, small bowel, and colonic anastomosis) after surgery on 38 juvenile male Sprague-Dawley rats.