AIM: To study the expressions of intestinal trefoil factor (ITF) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and histologic changes in intestine, to investigate the relationship between ITF and intestinal damage and repair after intrauterine hypoxia so as to understand the mechanism of intestinal injury and to find a new way to prevent and treat gastrointestinal diseases.METHODS: Wistar rats, pregnant for 21 d, were used to establish animal models of intrauterine asphyxia by clamping one side of vessels supplying blood to uterus for 20 min, another side was regarded as sham operation group. Intestinal tissues were taken away at 0, 24, 48and 72 h after birth and stored in different styles. ITF mRNA was detected by RT-PCR. PCNA expression was measured by immunohistochemistry. Intestinal tissues were studied histologically by HE staining in order to observe the areas and degree of injury and to value the intestinal mucosa injury index (IMDI).RESULTS: ITF mRNA appeared in full-term rats and increased with age. After ischemia, ITF mRNA was decreased to the minimum (0.59±0.032) 24 h after birth, then began to increase higher after 72 h than it was in the control group (P＜0.01). PCNA positive staining located in goblet cell nuclei. The PCNA level had a remarkable decline (53.29±1.97) 48 h after ischemia. Structure changes were obvious in 48-h group, IMDI (3.40±0.16) was significantly increased. Correlation analyses showed that IMDI had a negative correlation with ITF mRNA and PCNA (r = -0.543,P＜0.05; r = -0.794, P＜0.01, respectively).CONCLUSION: Intrauterine ischemia can result in an early decrease of ITF mRNA expression. ITF and PCNA may play an important role in the damage and repair of intestinal mucosa.