Evaluation of protective effects of postconditioning on ischemia/reperfusion-induced acute kidney injury

In recent years, the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is established and different methods including ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning (POC) are introduced to reduce the damage. One of the possible protective mechanisms of POC is a reduction in ROS formation. According to the significance and prevalence of renal IRI, in the present study, the protective effect of POC on the reduction of IR-induced renal injury was evaluated. After right nephrectomy, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three groups (n= 6). In IR group, with the use of bulldog clamp 45 min of left renal artery was induced followed by 24 hours of reperfusion. In sham group, all of the above surgical procedures were applied except that IR was not induced. In POC group, after induction of 45 min ischemia, 4 cycles of 10 seconds of intermittent ischemia and reperfusion were applied before restoring of blood to the kidney. At the end of the experiments, serum and renal tissue samples were collected for renal functional monitoring and oxidative stress evaluation. POC prevented the IR-induced increase in blood urea Nitrogen and serum creatinine and improved the kidney oxidative status demonstrated by a decrease in malondialdehyde level and an increase in superoxide dismutase. ‍ POC has a protective role on renal function by a reduction in IR-induced oxidative stress.