Evaluation of the gender difference in the protective effects of ischemic postconditioning on ischemia-reperfusion-induced acute kidney injury in rats

Several studies indicate that gender differences exist in tolerance of the kidney to ischemia reperfusion (IR) injury. Recently، postconditioning (POC)، induction of brief repetitive periods of IR، has been introduced to reduce the extent of the damage to the kidney. This method was shown to attenuate renal IR injury by modifying oxidative stress and reducing lipid peroxidation. Considering the gender effect on the results of several treatment methods، in this study، we investigated the impact of gender on the protective effect of POC on the rat kidney. In this study، after right nephrectomy، 48 male and female rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of 8 rats: In IR group، with the use of bulldog clamp، 45 minutes of left renal artery ischemia was induced followed by 24 hours of reperfusion. In the sham group، all of the above surgical procedures were applied except that IR was not induced. In the POC group، after the induction of 45 minutes ischemia، 4 cycles of 10 seconds of intermittent ischemia and reperfusion were applied before restoring of blood to the kidney. 24 hours later، serum and renal tissue samples were collected for renal functional monitoring and oxidative stress evaluation. Postconditioning attenuated renal dysfunction considering the significant decrease in plasma creatinine and BUN compared with IR group only in male rats (P<0. 05). Also، POC attenuated oxidative stress in male rats’ kidney tissues as demonstrated by a significantly reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) level and increased superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity (P<0. 05). In female rats، there were no changes in functional markers and oxidative stress status in POC group compared to IR group. Considering gender difference، POC had protective effect against IR injury by attenuating functional and oxidative stress markers in male rat kidneys. This protective effect was not seen in female rats.