Sevoflurane exerts protective effects on liver ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating NFKB3 expression via miR-9-5p

Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury is a critical contraindication of hepatobiliary surgery and results in severe liver damage. It is imperative to identify underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. In the current study, a rat model of liver IR was established to explore the mechanisms of sevoflurane during surgical intervention on IR. The detection of cytokines was performed using ELISA and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot assays were used to detect mRNA and protein expression levels, respectively. The target protein of microRNA (miR)-9-5p was identified by in vitro luciferase reporter assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by Annexin-V/propidium iodide and TUNEL staining assays. The results demonstrated that sevoflurane exerted protective effect against liver IR. Sevoflurane administration ameliorated a cytokine storm by decreasing serum levels of interleukin (IL)-1 and −6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and improved liver function was determined. IR-induced damage was mediated by an increase in transcription factor p65 expression and activation of the nuclear factor (NF)-κB signaling pathway, which were suppressed by sevoflurane treatment. In situ analysis predicted that NFKB3, encoding for p65, may be targeted by miR-9-5p and the hypothesis was verified by in vitro reporter assays using wild type and mutant sequences of the NFKB3 3′-untranslated region. Furthermore, pretreatment of hepatic tissue with a miR-9-5p mimic inhibited IR-associated injury as suggested by the decrease in the Suzuki score and decreased serum levels of TNF-α, IL-1 and IL-6. The results indicated that sevoflurane protected the liver from IR injury by increasing miR-9-5p expression and miR-9-5p may be a potential treatment target in IR.