Effects of pentoxifylline and coenzyme Q10 in hepatic ischemia/reperfusion injury

We examined whether pentoxifylline (PTX) and coenzyme Q10 (Q) pretreatment affect ischemia-reperfusion damage in the rat liver.

Twenty minutes of reflow following 30 min of ischemia was performed. Before the experiment, rats were treated PTX 50 mg/kg, IP or PTX 50 mg/kg IP + Q10 mg/kg, intragastric, or untreated. Rats were divided into four groups: control (C), ischemia-reperfusion (IR), PTX-treated (P), and Q+PTX-treated (QP) groups. Hepatic glutathione (GSH) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and catalase, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and reductase (GSSGR) activities were measured.

In IR group GSH levels decreased (p<0.01), conversely MDA levels increased (p<0.01). PTX pretreatment did not affect GSH and MDA values, but Q+PTX pretreatment improved of those (p<0.01). It was shown that catalase and GSH-Px activities increased during ischemia-reperfusion (p<0.01, both of), but PTX pretreatment did not significantly ameliorate those activities. GSSGR activity was higher in IR group than in basal levels (p<0.01). The decrease GSSGR activity that was observed in P group was not significant compared to IR group. During ischemia/reperfusion also SOD activity increased as compared with controls (p<0.05). In PTX-treated group, SOD activity was significantly higher than control and ischemia/reperfusion groups (p<0.01, both of). Q+PTX treatment ameliorated those enzyme activities to the control values.

Short-term hepatic ischemia-reperfusion diminished GSH, increased MDA levels and induced some antioxidant enzyme activities. Q+PTX pretreatment was useful in hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury, but treatment of PTX alone did not cause beneficial effect in the present study.