Protective effect of immunosuppressive treatment before orthotopic kidney autotransplantation

Abstract Background Ischemia reperfusion injury (IRI) is one of the risk factors for delayed graft function, acute rejection and long term allograft survival after kidney transplantation. IRI is an independent antigen inflammatory process that produces tissue damage. Our objective was to study the impact of immunosuppressive treatment (IS) on IRI applying only one dose of IS before orthotopic kidney autotransplantation. Methods Twenty-four rats allocated in four groups were studied. One group served as control (G1: autotransplanted rats without IS) and the rest received IS 12 h before kidney autotransplantation (G2: Rapamycin, G3: Mycophenolate mofetil and G4: Tacrolimus). Results Improved renal function and systemic inflammatory response were found among IS groups compared to the control group (Delta Urea p  Conclusions These data suggest that the use of IS administered before transplant attenuates the IRI process after kidney transplantation in an animal model.