RESUMEN
Renal ischemia is of great clinical interest because of its role in renal failure and renal graft rejection. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possible protective effect of leflunomide against ischemia/ reperfusion [l/R] injury in the rat. Three groups of Sprague-Dawley rats [10 rats each], the control group, I/R group and the leflunomide- treated I/R group. A renal I/R injury were induced by a left renal pedicle occlusion to induce ischemia for 45 min, followed by 60 mins of reperfusion with contralateral nephrectomy in rats. The rats in Leflunomide treated I/R group were pretreated intra- gastrically with a leflunomide suspension [10 mg/kg] 60 min before the- ischemia induction. Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS], nitric oxide [NO], tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-alpha], catalase [CAT] superoxide dismutase [SOD] activities were determined in renal tissue, while, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen [BUN] were measured in blood. Our results indicate that TBARS, NO, TNF-[alpha], BUN and creatinine levels were significantly higher in the I/R group than those in the control group. Leflunomide administration significantly decreased these parameters. SOD and CAT activities significantly decreased after I/R injury when compared to the control group. Leflunomide treatment significantly increased activities of these enzymes when compared to the I/R group. These results demonstrated that reactive oxygen species [ROS] and TNF-alpha play causal role in I/R induced renal injury and leflnomide exerted renoprotective effects by anti-inflammatory effect with radical scavenging and antioxidant activities