Remifentanil protects against oxidative damage of myocardial cells in rats with acute renal ischemia-reperfusion

Objective To observe the oxidative damage of myocardial cells in rats with acute renal ischemia- reperfusion and the protective effects with Remifentanil Pretreatment. Methods Acute renal ischemia-reperfusion injury model was established in rats. Fifty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into sham operation group (Sham group), ischemia-reperfusion group (I/R group) and Remifentanil pretreatment group (R group). The sham group rats received ligation of left renal artery with the right side intact. I/R group rats underwent right kidney ligation and the left renal pedicle was clipped until reperfusion at 45 min later. Then the rats were killed respectively at 30 min, 1, 2, 3 h following reperfusion. R group rats received the same procedure as in I/R group except for an additional pretreatment with intravenous 1 μg·kg-1·min-1) Remifentanil at 30 min before ischemia. The activities or levels of MDA, SOD and GSH-Px in the myocardial tissue were measured in all groups. Results Compared with the sham group, I/R group and R group were found to have higher level of myocardial MDA and reduced contents of SOD and GSH-Px. These differences were statistically significant at 1, 2 and 3 h (P0.05). Compared with I/R group, the myocardial MDA in R group decreased significantly (P0.05) and the SOD and GSH-Px contents increased significantly (P0.05). Conclusion Acute renal ischemia-reperfusion can cause oxidative damage to myocardial cells. Remifentanil pretreatment may play a protective role under such condition.