Abstract:Objective:To investigate the protective effects of Ginkgo Biloba leaves(EGb) preconditioning on liver graft in rat liver transplantation. Methods:Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used as donors and recipients of orthotopic liver transplantation(OLT). The rats were randomly divided into EGb group, normal saline(NS) control group and sham operation(SO) group. The animals were killed at 2h, 6h, 24h after graft reperfusion. Plasma samples were collected for ALT and AST test. Liver tissues were collected to detect the expression of TNF-αmRNA and Bcl-2mRNA by RT-PCR. Also, liver tissues were used to detect rat liver histological change and apoptosis by TUNEL. Results:The serum levels of ALT in EGb group were significantly lower than the NS group(P<0.01) at 2h, 6h and 24h after reperfusion. The serum levels of AST in EGb group were significantly lower than the NS group(P<0.01) at 2h and 6h after reperfusion. The apoptosis index (AI) of liver tissue in EGb group was significantly lower than the NS group(P<0.01) at 2h, 6h and 24h after reperfusion. The expression of TNF-αmRNA was significantly lower in EGb group than the NS group(P<0.05) at 2h and 6h after reperfusion. The expression of Bcl-2mRNA was significantly higher in EGb group than the NS group(P<0.01) at 2h, 6h and 24h after reperfusion. Conclusions:Preconditioning with extracta of Ginkgo Biloba leaves can attenuate liver graft ischemia/reperfusion injury and apoptosis of rat hepatocytes by affecting the expression of TNF-αmRNA, and Bcl-2mRNA and exert a protective effect on the liver graft.