AIM:To investigate the protective effects of early enteralfeeding (EEF) on postburn impairments of renal functionand their possible mechanisms.METHODS:Wistar rats with 30% of total body surfacearea (TBSA) full-thickness burn were adopted as theexperimental model.The effects of EEF on the postburnchanges of gastric intramucosal pH (pHi),endotoxin levelsin portal vein,water contents of renal tissue,and bloodconcentrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α),ureanitrogen (BUN),creatinine (Cr),as well as the changes ofclearance of creatinine (CCr) were dynamically observedwithin 48 h postbum.RESULTS:EEF could significantly improve gastric mucosalacidosis,reduce portal vein endotoxin levels and watercontents of renal tissue,as well as blood concentrations ofTNF-α after severe bums (P<0.01).The postbum elevationsof BUN and BCr were not found to be recovered by EEF.However,the CCr in EEF group was greatly increased by4.67-fold compared with that of the non-feeding burnedcontrol (16.43±2.90 vs.3.52±0.79,P<0.01).CONCLUSION:EEF has beneficial effects on theimprovement of renal function in severely burned rats,whichmay be related to its increase of splanchnic blood flow,decrease of the translocation of gut-origin endotoxin andthe release of inflammatory mediators. AIM: To investigate the protective effects of early enteral feeding (EEF) on postburn impairments of renal function and their possible mechanisms. METHODS: Wistar rats with 30% of total body surface area (TBSA) full-thickness burn were adopted as the experimental model. The effects of EEF on the postburn changes of gastric intramucosal pH (pHi), endotoxin levels in portal vein, water contents of renal tissue, and blood con- centrations of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), ureanitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr) ofclearance of creatinine (CCr) were dynamically observedwithin 48 h postbum .RESULTS: EEF could significantly improve gastric mucosalacidosis, reduce portal vein endotoxin levels and watercontents of renal tissue, as well as blood concentrations of TNF-α after severe bums (P <0.01). The postbum elevations of BUN and BCr were not found to be recovered by EEF. However, the CCr in EEF group was strongly increased by 4.67-fold compared with that of the non-feeding burned control (16.43 ± 2.90 vs .3.52 ± 0.79, P <0.01) .CONCLUSION: EEF has beneficial effects on the impaction of renal function in severely burned rats, which may be related to its increase of splanchnic blood flow, decrease of the translocation of gut-origin endotoxin and the release of inflammatory mediators.