Allopurinol preconditioning attenuates renal ischemia/reperfusion injury by inhibiting HMGB1 expression in a rat model

PURPOSE: To investigate the potential effects of pretreatment with allopurinol on renal ischemia/reperfusion injury (IRI) in a rat model. METHODS: Twenty four rats were subjected to right kidney uninephrectomy were randomly distributed into the following three groups (n=8): Group A (sham-operated group); Group B (ischemic group) with 30 min of renal ischemia after surgery; and Group C (allopurinol + ischemia group) pretreated with allopurinol at 50 mg/kg for 14 days. At 72 h after renal reperfusion, the kidney was harvested to assess inflammation and apoptosis. RESULTS: Pretreatment with allopurinol significantly improved renal functional and histological grade scores following I/R injury (p< 0.05). Compared with Group B, the expression levels of caspase-3 and Bax were markedly reduced in Group C, meanwhile, whereas expression of bcl-2 was clearly increased (p< 0.05). A newly described marker of inflammation, High Mobility Group Box 1(HMGB1), showed reduced expression in Group C (p< 0.05). CONCLUSION: Pretreatment with allopurinol had a protective effect on kidney ischemia/reperfusion injury, which might be related to the inhibition of HMGB1 expression.