Protective effect of flurbiprofen on hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats and action mechanism / 中华器官移植杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the protective effect of a COX inhibitor,flurbiprofen (Flurb) on hepatic ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury in rats and the action mechanism.Method C57BL/6 mice were randomized into sham,IR and Flurb (4 different doses) groups.The model of segmental (70％) warm hepatic ischemia was established in IR and Flurb groups.Flurbiprofen of different doses (5,7.5,10 and 15 mg/kg) was injected via the tail vein 20 min before ischemia.At different time points after reperfusion,liver cell necrosis and apoptosis were evaluated by HE and TUNEL staining.The COX and inflammatory cytokine gene expression was detected by using realtime PCR.Liver mitochondria were separated and mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore sensitivity was examined by using swelling assay and fluorescence spectrophotometry assay.Result In flurbiprofen groups of different doses,the serum AST and ALT levels were significantly decreased at 6 h after reperfusion as compared with IR group.Moreover,10 mg/kg Flurb pretreatment significantly inhibited the mitochondrial permeability transition (MPT) pore opening,and thus alleviated liver cell damage and prevented mitochondria-related cell death and apoptosis by inhibiting COX-2 and inflammatory factor genes expression such as IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α.Conclusion Flurbiprofen protects mice from hepatic I/R injury possibly by inhibiting mitochondrial permeability transition and IL-1β,IL-6 and TNF-α expression,which may provide experimental evidence for clinical use of flurbiprofen to protect liver function in surgical settings other than its conventional use for pain relief.