Protective effect of immunosuppressive treatment before orthotopic kidney autotransplantation

Background: Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is one of the risk factors for delayed graft function, acute rejection and long term allograft survival after kidney transplantation. IRI is an independent antigen inflammatory process that produces tissue damage. Our objective was to study the impact of immunosuppressive treatment (IS) on IRI applying only one dose of IS before orthotopic kidney autotransplantation. Methods: Twenty-four rats allocated in four groups were studied. One group served as control (G1: autotransplanted rats without IS) and the rest received IS 12. h before kidney autotransplantation (G2: Rapamycin, G3: Mycophenolate mofetil and G4: Tacrolimus). Results: Improved renal function and systemic inflammatory response were found among IS groups compared to the control group (Delta Urea p < 0.0001; Delta Creatinine p < 0.0001; Delta C3 p < 0.001). The number of apoptotic nuclei in renal medulla in G1 was higher than in IS groups (p < 0.0001). Tubular damage was less severe in IS groups respecting G1 (p < 0.001). C3, TNF-γ and IL-6 expression in kidney samples was reduced when IS was used compared to the control group. No differences were observed among the different immunosuppressive drugs tested. However, Heme oxygenase-1(HO-1) was increased only in Rapamycin treatment. Conclusions: These data suggest that the use of IS administered before transplant attenuates the IRI process after kidney transplantation in an animal model.Fil: Cicora, Federico. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentina. Hospital Alemán; Argentina. Fundación Para la Investigación y Asistencia de la Enfermedad Renal; ArgentinaFil: Lausada, Natalia Raquel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Vasquez, Daniela Noris. Fundación Para la Investigación y Asistencia de la Enfermedad Renal; ArgentinaFil: Cicora, Paola. Fundación Para la Investigación y Asistencia de la Enfermedad Renal; ArgentinaFil: Guerrieri, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Farmacología; ArgentinaFil: Gonzalez, Pedro. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Zalazar, Gustavo. Provincia de Buenos Aires. Gobernación. Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas; ArgentinaFil: Stringa, Pablo Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; ArgentinaFil: Raimondi, Jorge Clemente. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Médicas; Argentin