Colchicine protects rat skeletal muscle from ischemia/reperfusion injury by suppressing oxidative stress and inflammation

Neutrophils play an important role in ischemia/reperfusion (IR) induced skeletal muscle injury. Microtubules are required for neutrophil activation in response to various stimuli. This study aimed to investigate the effects of colchicine, a microtubule-disrupting agent, on skeletal muscle IR injury in a rat hindlimb ischemia model.
Twenty-one Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into three groups: IR group, colchicine treated-IR (CO) group and sham operation (SM) group. Rats of both the IR and CO groups were subjected to 3 hr of ischemia by clamping the right femoral artery followed by 2 hr of reperfusion. Colchicine (1 mg/kg) was administrated intraperitoneally prior to hindlimb ischemia in the CO group. After 2 hr of reperfusion, we measured superoxide dismutase (SOD) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activities, and malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-1β levels in the muscle samples. Plasma creatinine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were measured. We also evaluated the histological damage score and wet/dry weight (W/D) ratio.
The histological damage score, W/D ratio, MPO activity, MDA, TNF-α and IL-1β levels in muscle tissues were significantly increased, SOD activity was decreased, and plasma CK and LDH levels were remarkably elevated in both the IR and CO groups compared to the SM group (P Colchicine attenuates IR-induced skeletal muscle injury in rats.