Edaravone inhibits apoptosis caused by ischemia/ reperfusion injury in a porcine hepatectomy model

AIM： TO investigate the effect of E3-methyl-l-phe- nyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one （Edr） on hepatic ischemia-reper- fusion （I/R） injury and liver regeneration in a porcine hepatectomy model. METHODS： One hour ischemia was induced by occlud- ing the vessels and the bile duct of the right and median lobes. A 40% left hepatectomy was performed after re- perfusion. Six animals received Edr （3 mg/kg per hour） intravenously and six control animals received saline just before reperfusion. Remnant liver volume, hemody- namics, aspartate aminotransferase （AST）, alanine ami- notransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and lactic acid, were compared between the groups. The expression of transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β1） and toll-like receptor （TRL） mRNA in hepatic tissues was examined using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Apoptosis was demonstrated by terminal deoxynucleo- tidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling （TUNEL） stain- ing, respectively. RESULTS： Serum AS-I- （P = 0.029）, and toll like recep- tor 4 level （P = 0.043） were significantly lower after 3 hin animals receiving Edr. In addition, TUNEL staining in Edr-treated pigs showed significantly fewer hepatocytes undergoing apoptosis compared with control pigs. After 1 mo, all factors were non-significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSION： Edr is considered to reduce hepatic injury in the early stage of I/R injury in a porcine model.