Effects of Remifentanil Postconditioning on Apoptosis in Renal Cells Induced by Ischemia-reperfusion in Rats

Objective To investigate the effects of remifentanil on apoptosis in renal cells induced by ischemia/reperfusion in rats Methods Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups:groupⅠsham operation(S);group Ⅱischemia-reperfusion(I/R);group Ⅲ remifentanil(1μg/kg min) postc-onditioning+I/R(R1);group Ⅳ remifentanil(2μg/kg·min) postconditioning+I/R(R2) and group V remifentanil(4μg/kg min) postconditioning+I/R(R3).The right renal pedicle was ligated and the left one was occluded for 45 minutes using an atraumatic vascular clamp.In group R1、R2、R3 remifentanil was infused iv at different concentration starting from the moment of ischemia-reperfusion until the rats were killed.Equal volume of normal saline was infused instead of remifentanil in group S and I/R.The animals were killed at 12h of reperfusion respectively.Left kidney were obtained for determinationof Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression and apoptosis in kidney cells.Results Expression of Bax and Bcl-2 and apoptosis in nephrocyteswere significantly higher in group I/R and R than in group S(P0.05).Bcl-2/Bax ratio was significantly lower in group I/R but sign-ificantly higher in group R than in group S(P0.05).Apoptosis index was significantly increased by kidney I/R and remifentanil significantly attenuated the increase in apoptosis index in group R.Expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2/Bax ratio was significantly higher,however,expression of Bax and apoptosis in nephrocytes were significantly lower in group R than in group I/R(P0.05).Conclusion Remifentanil postconditioning can reduce nephrocyte apoptosis induced by kidney I/R by changing the balance between Bcl-2 and Bax expression.