Effects of tacrolimus on Bcl-2 protein,TNF-a expression when improving injury of renal ischemia-reperfusion

Objective To study the effect of tacrolimus on improving injury of renal ischemia-reperfusion and the expression of Bcl-2 protein and TNF-a by establishing renal ischemia-reperfusion injury model in mice.Methods 60 healthy Wistar male rats were randomly divided into three groups: sham operation group,control group and experiment group(n=20 in each group).The blood and kidney samples were collected at the different setting reperfusion time point.Serum creatinine(scr),blood urea nitrogen(BUN)were measured by automatic biochemical analyzer;serum levels of tumor necrosis factor(TNF-a)were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay;B-cell lymphoma(Bcl-2) were measured by immunohistochemistry;renal pathological injury were analyzed by HE staining.Results 1.The scr and BUN levels in experiment group and control group were higher than that in sham group at each time point.The scr and BUN levels were significantly lower than that in control group(P0.05) at 2 h,6 h and 24 h post-reperfusion after ischemia-45 minutes.2.In control group,at 0.5 h,2 h,6 h and 24 h post-reperfusion after ischemia 45 minutes,the TNF-a levels were significantly higher with the time delay.At each reperfusion time point,serum TNF-a in experiment group was significantly lower than that in control group(P0.05).3.The expression of Bcl-2 was found in mice of each group,mainly in the kidney distal tubule,proximal tubule,but the intensity of immune response was different.Immune responses in the experiment group were higher than the control group at each time point,especially post-reperfusion 2 h,6 h,24 h(P0.05).4.Renal pathological changes: renal tubular epithelial cells and renal tubular lesions were more markedly reduced in the experiment group than the control group at each time point under the light microscope,only appeared tubular dilatation,tubular epithelial cell swelling,renal blood vessel dilatation and congestion;renal tubular epithelial cells were no significantly changed in sham operation group.Conclusions Tacrolimus can improve renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.Tacrolimus may probably reduce serum levels of TNF-α,increase expression of Bcl-2 protein and inhibit apoptosis of renal cells to improve renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.