Ethyl pyruvate: A newly discovered compound against ischemia-reperfusion injury in multiple organs

Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a process whereby an initial ischemia injury and subsequent recovery of blood flow, which leads to the propagation of an innate immune response and the changes of structural and functional of multiple organs. Therefore, IRI is considered to be a great challenge in clinical treatment such as organ transplantation or coronary angioplasty. In recent years, ethyl pyruvate (EP), a derivative of pyruvate, has received great attention because of its stability and low toxicity. Previous studies have proved that EP has various pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammation, anti-oxidative stress, anti-apoptosis, and anti-fibrosis. Compelling evidence has indicated EP plays a beneficial role in a variety of acute injury models, such as brain IRI, myocardial IRI, renal IRI, and hepatic IRI. Moreover, EP can not only effectively inhibit multiple IRI-induced pathological processes, but also improve the structural and functional lesion of tissues and organs. In this study, we review the recent progress in the research on EP and discuss their implications for a better understanding of multiple organ IRI, and the prospects of targeting the EP for therapeutic intervention. [Display omitted] •We describe in detail the biological activities of ethyl pyruvate.•The molecular mechanisms of ethyl pyruvate in the protection of multiple organ ischemia-reperfusion injury are described.•The relevant experiments of ethyl pyruvate in multi-organ ischemia-reperfusion injury are also presented in table form.•The potential future research directions of ethyl pyruvate are revealed.