Preventive effects of metformin on renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in the rat

Abstract

Renal ischemia causes oxidative stress which leads to severe and prolonged inflammatory responses following reperfusion. Re-perfusion injury in the kidney is a causal factor of acute renal failure which has been studied in different animals and clinical models. Metformin is an oral medication used alone or with other medications to treat type 2 diabetes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of metformin following the induction of ischemia-reperfusion in the rat kidney. In this study, 30 adult male Wistar rats weighing 200-250g were used which were divided randomly into three groups of 10 which include the sham group; this group had not received any medication and after only a week, the abdominal cavity was opened then left renal nephrectomy was performed and the abdominal cavity reclosed. The control group (IR): this group had not received any medication until induction of ischemia-reperfusion and after a week the abdominal cavity was opened and following ischemia- reperfusion, left kidney nephrectomy was performed. I/R+MET group: this group was gavaged with a dose of metformin (100 mg/kg) each day for a week at a same time and after a week the abdominal cavity was opened and then ischemia-reperfusion was induced and left kidney nephrectomy performed. In all groups except sham, both the renal pedicles were closed and released after 45 minutes for induction of ischemia-reperfusion. After 4 and 8 hours, left kidney nephrectomy was performed. At day zero (before drug administration) and after the end of ischemia-reperfusion and during renal nephrectomy, blood samples were collected and serum creatinine and BUN levels were examined. The data obtained analyzed by ANOVA on significant levels (p

Keywords

• Kidney
• Ischemia-reperfusion
• Metformin
• Rat