The antioxidation of L-carnitine on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and its underlying mechanism

Objective To investigate the antioxidation of L-carnitine on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury(IRI) and its underlying mechanism.Methods Eighteen rats were randomly divided into three groups:control group(group C),ischemia-reperfusion group(group IR) and L-carnitine group(group LC).Rats in group C received no treatment of ischemic reperfusion.In group IR and LC,the renal ischemia-reperfusion(IR) model was established.Six hours after IR,the levels of serum creatinine(Cr) and urea nitrogen(BUN),the activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD) and the content of malonaldehyde(MDA) in serum were measured.RT-PCR was used to detect the levels of Nrf2 and HO-1 mRNA and Western-blot was used to detect the levels of Nrf2 and HO-1 protein in renal tissues.Results The levels of Cr and BUN in group LC were lower than those in group IR(P0.01),which were(74.17±12.80) μmol/L and(24.28±2.58) mmol/L vs.(112.83±17.45) μmol/L and(35.13±6.01) mmol/L.The activity of SOD in group LC was higher but the content of MDA was lower than those in group IR(P0.01),which were(39.55±6.61) kU/g and(4.15±0.69) μmol/g vs.(28.05±4.37) kU/g and(6.12±1.08) μmol/g,respectively.The mRNA and protein expression of Nrf2 and HO-1 in group IR increased as compared with group C(P0.01),but decreased as compared with group LC(P0.01).Conclusions L-carnitine can protect ischemia-reperfusion injury significantly,which might be due to the hyperexpression of HO-1 induced by activated Keapl-Nrf2-ARE signaling pathway.