Protective Effect of Ischemic Preconditioning on Hepatic Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Aim: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) protects tissue against ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of IPC on protection of hepatocytes after prolonged I/R injury. Methods: Twenty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into ischemic preconditioning group (IP), ischemia/reperfusion group (IR) and sham operation group (SO). A model of partial liver ischemia/reperfusion was used, in which rats were subjected to liver ischemia for 90 min prior to reperfusion. The animals in the IP group underwent ischemic preconditioning for 10 min prior to the ischemia/reperfusion challenge. After 3 h of reperfusion, serum and liver tissue in each group were collected to detect the level of serum ALT, AST, HA, MDA and liver histopathology. Results: Compared with IR group, IP group showed a significantly lower ALT, AST, HA and MDA level in 3 h. Proliferation index (PI) was significantly increased in IP group compared with IR group. Conclusion: Ischemic preconditioning can protect liver cells against ischemia/reperfusion injury, which may be related to cell proliferation during early ischemic reperfusion.