Dehydroepiandrosterone improves hepatic antioxidant systems after renal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rabbits

This study evaluated the effects of dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) on the oxidant [malondialdehyde (MDA)] and antioxidant [superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and glutathione (GSH)] systems in liver after renal ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury in rabbits. Thirty rabbits were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 10: group I (sham operation), group II (renal IR group), and group III (DHEA, 25 mg/kg, s.c., 15 min pre-ischemia). Renal IR injury in group II caused a decrease of SOD (25%), GPx (36%), and CAT (26%) activities and GSH levels (32%), and increases of MDA (30%) in liver and of ALT and AST activities in serum, compared to group I. DHEA administration decreased the hepatic MDA level (19%) and serum ALT activity (30%) (p <0.01 and p <0.05, respectively), and considerably increased hepatic GSH levels and GPx activities (p <0.01 for both) in group III, compared to group II. These results suggest that DHEA treatment has beneficial effects on antioxidant defenses against hepatic injury after renal IR in rabbits, possibly by augmenting GSH levels and lowering MDA production.