Objective：To study the protective effect and mechanism of genistein preconditioning on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.
Methods：Fifty-four SD rats were randomly divided into three groups: Group A: I/R group, rats underwent 60 min of 70% hepatic ischemia and reperfusion; Group B: genistein precondition group, rats received genistein (2 mg/kg) prior to I/R; Group C: sham operation group, rats only underwent laparotomy without vascular occlusion. Serum and liver samples were collected at 2 h, 6 h and 12 h after the 3 models were established. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and hepatic tissue malondialdehyde(MDA) were measured by an automatic biochemical analyzer, expression of casepase-3 of the liver was detected by immunohistochemical staining, and the pathological changes of liver were examined.
Results：Compared with I/R group, in Group B(GST), the level of serum AST, ALT and the expression of MDA and casepase-3 were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the pathological changes of the liver were ameliorated significantly.
Conclusions：Genistein preconditioning can protect liver from I/R injury by modulating oxidative stress and inhibiting apoptosis.