title: Effect of ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning on liver regeneration in prepubertal rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Liver regeneration has great importance for transplantation, especially in children; however, it has not been studied sufficiently in development animals. Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a problem, and strategies such as ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning are not well defined regarding regeneration.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study sought to evaluate liver regeneration with modulation by ischemic preconditioning and postconditioning in prepubertal rats subjected to total ischemia and reperfusion.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five 5-week-old female Wistar rats were divided into groups of 7 animals each: control group (SHAM), 70% hepatectomy (HEP), total ischemia 30 minutes before hepatectomy (IR), ischemic preconditioning 10/10 minutes before ischemia (PRE), and two 30/30-second ischemic postconditioning cycles after ischemia and hepatectomy (POS). All animals were subjected to 24-hour reperfusion. Aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase activity were measured to evaluate liver damage, and histological analysis, proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and regenerated mass liver were used to evaluate liver regeneration. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels were significantly lower in conditioned groups than in the IR group. Regarding mitotic index, IR > control group and HEP (P < .05), PRE and POS were not significantly different from IR, and POS > HEP (P < .05). PCNA analysis showed that IR > HEP (P < .01), PRE < IR (P < .01), and no significant differences were observed between POS and IR groups. No significant differences in regenerated mass liver were observed between conditioned groups and HEP.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ischemic postconditioning prevented ischemic injury, promoted greater liver regeneration, and should be further investigated as an alternative better than ischemic preconditioning.
authors.affiliation: Medical Sciences Post-Graduation Program, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: A R C
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Pires
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Nutrition, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Boaventura
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: A M R
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, and Medical Sciences Post-Graduation Program, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil.
authors.forename: J M S G
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Martinho
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Souza Marques School of Medicine, and Medical Sciences Post-Graduation Program, Fluminense Federal University, Brazil. Electronic address: cida.galhardo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Galhardo
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy; D057775:Ischemic Postconditioning / Q000379:methods*; D019194:Ischemic Preconditioning / Q000379:methods*; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008115:Liver Regeneration; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*