Ameliorative Effect of Recombinant Human Erythropoietin and Ischemic Preconditioning on Renal Ischemia Reperfusion Injury in Rats

BACKGROUND: Ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury is one of the most common causes of renal dysfunction. There is increasing evidence about the role of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) in these injuries and endogenous antioxidants seem to have an important role in decreasing the renal tissue injury. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) and ischemic preconditioning (IPC) on renal IR injury. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty four male Wistar rats were allocated into four experimental groups: sham-operated, IR, EPO + IR, and IPC + IR. Rats were underwent 50 minutes bilateral ischemia followed by 24 hours reperfusion. Erythropoietin (5000 IU/kg, i.p) was administered 30 minutes before onset of ischemia. Ischemic preconditioning was performed by three cycles of 3 minutes ischemia followed by 3 minutes reperfusion. Plasma concentrations of urea and creatinine were measured. Kidney samples were taken for reactive oxidative species (ROS) measurement including superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, glutathione (GSH) contents, and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. RESULTS: Compared to the sham group, IR led to renal dysfunction as evidenced by significantly higher plasma urea and creatinine. Treatment with EPO or IPC decreased urea, creatinine, and renal MDA levels and increased SOD activity and GSH contents in the kidney. CONCLUSIONS: Pretreatment with EPO and application of IPC significantly ameliorated the renal injury induced by bilateral renal IR. However, both treatments attenuated renal dysfunction and oxidative stress in kidney tissues. There were no significant differences between pretreatment with EPO or application of IPC.