The Effect of Galantamine on Liver Function in Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Hepatic ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury may affect different biological and functional roles of the liver. The present study aims to evaluate the effects of galantamine as a cholinergic agent on the acute and late phases of IR.

Forty rats were randomly allocated to eight groups (n=5): IR groups were subjected to 90 min ischemia followed by 4 and 24 hours reperfusion to induce acute and late phases of IR, respectively, two groups received pre- or post-treatment dose(s) of galantamine in the acute phase of IR, two groups received pre- or post-treatment dose(s) of galantamine in late phase of IR, and two sham-operated groups. Blood samples were taken, and ALT, AST, ALP, and LDH were measured to evaluate the liver function.

Pre-ischemic treatment with galantamine decreased the levels of ALT, AST, and ALP in the acute phase of IR, unlike the late phase (P-value<0.05). Post-ischemic treatment with galantamine in the acute phase of IR was decreased all enzymes (P-value<0.05). Unlike the latter, treatment with galantamine in the late phase of IR was increased these values.

We concluded that pre- and post-ischemic treatment with galantamine could be ameliorated hepatic IR injury, in the acute phase versus the late phase, which should be further studied in detail.