title: Pioglitazone attenuates ischemia/reperfusion-induced liver injury in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury leads to free radical generation and acute inflammatory responses that cause liver damage, an important problem for liver transplantation. Pioglitazone is known to protect I/R injury in various tissues; however, the mechanism of cytoprotection is not well understood. This study investigated the effects of pioglitazone administration in a warm hepatic I/R model on tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha level, tissue injury, and antioxidant enzyme activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty wistar strain rats were divided into 4 groups (n = 20): Group 1 sham hosts; Group 2 hepatic I/R; Group 3 hepatic I/R + pioglitazone (10 mg/kg); and Group 4 hepatic I/R + vehicle. Rat livers were subjected to 30 minutes of ischemia followed by 6 hours of reperfusion. After reperfusion rats were humanely killed to obtain liver tissue to study glutathione peroxidase (GPx), superoxide dysmutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and for histopathologic assessment. TNF-alpha, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) were measured in serum.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pioglitazone pretreatment significantly reduced liver enzyme content (ALT, 176.80 +/- 13.75 vs 235.28 +/- 31.92 and AST, 748.20 +/- 79.29 vs 944.85 +/- 101.87) and TNF-alpha level (9:8.60 +/- 8.67 vs 138.28 +/- 9.99) after I/R compared with the control group. MDA level (3.02 +/- 0.37 vs 4.36 +/- 0.38) and hepatocytic degeneration were reduced in the pioglitazone-treated group. GPx (2.40 +/- 0.25 vs 1.36 +/- 0.31) and SOD activity (2.22 +/- 0.30 vs 1.40 +/- 0.35) were significantly higher in the pioglitazone-treated group compared with the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study showed that pioglitazone administration improved hepatic I/R injury that was associated with enhanced antioxidant enzyme activities and suppression of TNF-alpha, ALT, and AST levels. Because peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma agonists are widely used to treat diabetic patients, it may be relatively easy to expand their clinical indication. However, further investigations will be required to delineate protective mechanisms by which pioglitazone attenuates hepatic tissue injury after I/R.
authors.affiliation: Liver and Gastroenterology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Somi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hajipour
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Asl
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Estakhri
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Azar
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Zade
authors.forename: A G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Haghjou
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Vatankhah
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008315:Malondialdehyde / Q000378:metabolism; D000077205:Pioglitazone; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D045162:Thiazolidinediones / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D045162:Thiazolidinediones; D008315:Malondialdehyde; D005979:Glutathione Peroxidase; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase; D000077205:Pioglitazone