Abstract: Objective To study the protective effects of tacrolimus on the rat renal ischemia-reperfusion injury. Methods Sixty male healthy Wistar rats were assigned randomly into three groups: sham operation group, control group, and experimental group. In each group there were 20 rats. Blood and kidney specimens were taken in different reperfusion time, and serum creatinine(Cr), urea nitrogen(BUN), tumor necrosis factor(TNF-α) were determined; kidney tissues B cell lymphoma protein(Bcl-2) and pathological changes were detected. Results After 45 minutes of ischemia, reperfusion was performed at 2 h, 6 h and 24 h in the experimental group serum creatinine(Scr), blood urea nitrogen(BUN) levels were significantly lower than those of the control group(P<0.05), however, Bcl-2 immune response intensity was significantly higher than those of the control group(P<0.05). As to reperfusion at the various time points, in the experimental group of TNF-α content was significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05). Under light microscope, the control group showed more severe pathological changes in renal tubules and tubular epithelial cells; the experimental group showed significantly less severe renal disease and renal epithelial cells pathological changes than the control group. Sham operation group did not show any significant tubular and tubular epithelial cell changes. Conclusion Tacrolimus on showed significant protective effects against renal ischemia-reperfusion protective effect that may reduce serum levels of TNF-α expression and increase the Bcl-2 protein expression to improve renal ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Key words: tacrolimus, ischemia-reperfusion, tumor necrosis factor-α, B cell lymphoma protein-2