The pretreatment of triptolide could prevent the liver ischemia-reperfusion injury by inducing regulatory T cells in mice

Objective To investigate the effect and related mechanism of triptolide pretreatment to prevent from ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in mice liver. Methods Sixty male C57BL/6 mouse were randomized into four groups (15/group): A:sham group with saline , B: sham group with triptolide, C: saline I/R group, D: triptolide I/R group. The mice were pretreated with either saline or triptolide (0. 1 mg/kg/d) through intraperitoneal (ip) injection for one week. The mouse partial liver model of I/R injury was established, and samples were collected at 24 h after the I/R injury. Results Serum ALT and AST levels were significantly decreased and histological damage was significantly alleviated in the triptolide I/R group as compared with the saline I/R group (P＜0.05), the concentration of MDA in the triptolide groups was significantly decreased, while SOD activity was significantly increased compared with that of the saline I/R group (P＜0.05). The percentages of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) cells among CD4+ T cells in groups A, B, C, and D were(7. 55 ± 1.87)%, (12. 59±3. 87)%,(7. 85±1.07)%, and(12. 02±3. 16)% in liver tissue, respectively. The expression levels of Foxp3 mRNA were significantly higher in the triptolide I/R group than those of saline I/R group (P＜0. 05). ELISA showed that triptolide could significantly inhibit the levels of IL-6, IL-Iβ and TNF-αand promoted the level of IL-10 in the serum (P＜0.05). Conclusion Pretreatment with triptolide could effectively prevent from liver I/R injury, which may be related to the induction of Treg cells by triptolide, the increase in the level of IL-10 in serum, and the inhibition of IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α production in serum. Key words: Triptolide; CD4+CD25+regulatory T cells; Ischemia/reperfusion; Liver injury