Protective effect of ligustrazine against ischemia-reperfusion injury in rat liver

Objective:To investigate the protective effect of ligustrazine against ischemia-reperfusion(IR) injury in rat liver and its mechanism.Methods:Thirty-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into control group(n=6),sham-operation group(n=6),ischemia-reperfusion group(n=10),normal saline group(n=6) and ligustrazine group(n=10).The rats in control group were sacrificed without any treatment.The rat in sham-operation group underwent a midline laparotomy for 60 min.The rats in ischemia-reperfusion group received a 60-min occlusion of 70% hepatic blood inflow,followed by 4 h reperfusion.The rats in normal saline group or in ligustrazine group received normal saline(8 ml/kg) or ligustrazine(80 mg/kg) intraperitoneally 30 min prior to occlusion of 70% hepatic blood inflow.After 4 h reperfusion,rats were sacrified.Serum activities of alanine aminotransferase(ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase(AST) were determined by rate method and the liver histological changes were examined after hematoxylin-eosin(HE) staining.Serum concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-1(IL-1) and interleukin-10(IL-10) were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results:Serum levels of ALT and AST,serum concentrations of IL-1 and TNF-α were markedly decreased(P0.05),while IL-10 concentration was obviously increased(P0.05) in ligustrazine group compared with the ischemia-reperfusion group and normal saline group.The injury of hepatocytes was ameliorated in ligustrazine group compared with the ischemia-reperfusion group and normal saline group.Conclusion:Ligustrazine can reduce the ischemia-reperfusion injury of rat liver by inhibiting the expression of proinflammation cytokines and promoting anti-inflammation cytokine IL-10 expression.