The effects of preoperative immunosuppressive therapy on ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury in healthy rats

Purpose Warm-ischemia-induced injuries might be encountered during renal transplants from cadavers and healthy donors. Toll-like receptors (TLR) in ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injury are one of the indicators of intracellular injury pathways. The intensity of ischemic injury is directly proportionate to high TLR levels. To minimize the I/R injury, we investigated TLR2 and TLR4 levels on rats, which were pretreated with tacrolimus (FK506) before I/R. Methods Eight Wistar albino rats in the study group were administered .01 mg/kg intramuscular tacrolimus. Administration to the study group was performed 24 and 1 h before warm ischemia. Eight rats in the control group were injected with 0.1 c.c. of distilled water. Blood samples were collected from the tail veins of all the rats on the first, second and third days. Expression levels of TLR2 and TLR4 genes were analyzed using the polymerase chain reaction method, to determine any significant difference between the control and study groups on the days when blood was taken. Results TLR2 ( p = 0.045) and TLR4 ( p = 0.022) levels in the study group were found to be statistically, and significantly, lower than those in the control group, on the second day following warm-ischemia- and reperfusion-induced injury. Conclusions Administration of immunosuppressive drugs to healthy donor rats led to a statistically significant reduction in the expression levels of TLR2 and TLR4 in the early period. In light of the data obtained by this study, we hypothesize that a preoperative therapy on donors might have a role in preventing I/R injury.