title: Protective effect of decorin on acute ischaemia-reperfusion injury in the rat kidney.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) has a crucial role in collagen synthesis and fibrosis. TGF-β1 can be antagonized and/or reduced by the action of certain agents. We propose to identify the role of decorin in treatment of tubular and interstitial fibrosis and in the inhibition of TGF-β1 in an acute ischaemic kidney.
  
  
  METHODS
  We grouped 34 female Sprague Dawley type rats into 3 groups as 9 sham, 9 ischaemia-reperfusion (I/R) and 16 I/R + decorin respectively. The rats in the I/R + decorin group had decorin administered intraperitoneally at the dose of 0.1 mg/kg for 9 days after reperfusion. After 9 days, all the rats in the 3 groups were unilaterally nephrectomized. The TGF-β1 level was measured immunohistochemically in the nephrectomized material.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The TGF-β1 level was lower in the I/R + decorin group. Evaluation of apoptotic activity level by caspase staining showed a statistically significant difference between the 3 groups. The number of caspase stained cells was lower in the I/R + decorin group. The amount of collagen in interstitial tissue was higher in the I/R group than in the I/R + decorin group, but this difference was not statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found that the TGF-β1 level - the so-called initiator of fibrotic activity - and apoptotic activity were low in the I/R + decorin group. Additional studies must be performed to understand the role of decorin in inhibition of TGF-β1 and to assess decorin's routine use in acute renal ischaemia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cabir
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alan
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kocoglu
authors.forename: Ramazan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Altintas
authors.forename: Bülent
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alici
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Resit Ersay