Sepodes, BrunoMaio, RuiPinto, RuiSharples, EdwardOliveira, PedroMcDonald, MichelleYaqoob, MuhammadThiemermann, ChristophMota-Filipe, Helder2015-12-302015-12-302006TRANSPLANT INTERNATIONAL. - Vol. 19, n. 11 (NOV 2006), p. 919-9260934-0874http://hdl.handle.net/10451/21005Recently, erythropoietin was shown to have both hematopoietic as well as tissue-protective properties. Erythropoietin (EPO) had a protective effect in animal models of cerebral ischemia, mechanical trauma of the nervous system, myocardial infarction, and ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of the kidney. It is not known whether EPO protects the liver against I/R injury. Using a rat model of liver I/R injury, we aimed to determine the effect of the administration of human recombinant erythropoietin (rhEPO) on liver injury. Rats were subjected to 30 min of liver ischemia followed by 2 h of reperfusion. When compared with the sham-operated rats, I/R resulted in significant rises in the serum levels of aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, gamma-glutamyl transferase, tissue lipid peroxidation, caspase-3 activity and altered histology. Administration of rhEPO 5 min before ischemia was able to reduce the biochemical evidence of liver injury; however, this protection was not evident when rhEPO was administered 5 min before reperfusion. Mechanistically, early administration of rhEPO was able to reduce the oxidative stress and caspase-3 activation, suggesting the subsequent reduction of apoptosis. This study provides the first evidence that rhEPO causes a substantial reduction of the liver injury induced by I/R in the rat.application/pdfengSurgeryTransplantationjournal articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1432-2277.2006.00366.x