Abstract:Objective:To study the protective effect and mechanism of safflower solution on warm ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) of liver in rats.
Methods :Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided as 4 groups: Group S (sham group); group I/R (IRI group); group IPC (ischemic preconditioning group); group SPC (safflower solution preconditioning group). The rats were sacrificed at 24 h after reperfusion, serum levels of ALT and AST were measured and HE staining of liver tissues were made to detect rat liver histological changes and grade liver IRI(Suzuki score); apoptosis were monitored by TUNEL; TNF-α, MIP-2 and ICAM-1 mRNA of liver were measured by RT-PCR; NF-κB gene products of liver were detected by Western blotting.The mean value of all the assay tests was compared.
Results:After 24 h reperfusion, compared with group I/R, the liver function (ALT and AST) in group SPC and group IPC was significantly improved (P＜0.05), Suzuki scores was significantly decreased (P＜0.05), the level of hepatic TNF-α, MIP-2 and ICAM-1mRNA was significantly decreased (P＜0.05), and the expression of hepatic NF-κB protein was also decreased (P＜0.05).
Conclusions:Donor pretreatment with safflower solution can decrease the severity of warm IRI of liver graft by downregulation of proinflammatory cytokines TNF-α, MIP-2 and ICAM-1 mRNA and by its antiapoptotic effects.