Methods: Forty male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five equal groups. The rats were sacrificed and blood samples were obtained to determine the basal serum prolidase levels in group 1 (control group) without any intervention. In groups 2 and 3, the superior mesenteric arteries were clamped with simple laparotomy to induce mesenteric ischemia. In groups 4 and 5, the right common femoral artery was clamped to induce peripheral ischemia and blood samples were taken at 120 and at 360 minutes, respectively. The serum prolidase levels were measured using the samples obtained from each group.

Results: The basal prolidase level in rats was found to be 266.8±20.5 U/L. The serum prolidase levels increased after two-hours of peripheral (404.0±105.6 U/L) and mesenteric ischemia (317.1±121.4 U/L). However, the serum prolidase levels decreased after six-hours of peripheral (346.1±104.9 U/L) and mesenteric ischemia (233.4±36.6 U/L). Although the serum prolidase levels were elevated in the second hour of mesenteric ischemia, they were lower than the enzyme levels obtained after twohours of peripheral ischemia (p=0.006).

Conclusion: The serum prolidase level may be an important predictive biomarker for identifying the duration of ischemia.