Scintigraphic, histopathologic and biochemical evaluation of lycopene effects on renal ischemia reperfusion injury in rats

Introduction/Objective. Medical protection of kidneys against ischemia reperfusion injury is very important. Many agents have been used for the protection of ischemia reperfusion renal tissue injury. We aimed to evaluate the radioprotective effect of lycopene on kidneys in ischemia reperfusion injury with histopathological, biochemical, and scintigraphic parameters. Methods. Twenty-one Wistar male albino rats were divided into the following three groups: lycopene, control, and sham group. In the lycopene group, lycopene was started three days before right renal ischemia reperfusion injury and continued for 15 days. In the control group, right renal ischemia reperfusion injury was applied with no medication. In the sham group, neither right renal ischemia reperfusion injury nor medication were applied. On the 15th day, all rats were sacrificed after 99mTc-dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scintigraphies were taken. Histopathological, biochemical, and scintigraphic evaluations were made. Results. The histopathological score was lower in the lycopene group. In biochemical analysis, myeloperoxidase levels were lower in the lycopene group than in the control group, but not statistically significant. Malondialdehyde and nitrite levels were lower in the lycopene group than in the control group. The postoperative mean 99mTc-DMSA uptake values were 44.82 ± 1.84 in the lycopene group, 38.92 ± 1.17 in the control group, and 50.21 ± 1.35 in the sham group. DMSA uptake values were higher in the lycopene group than in the control group. Conclusion. Lycopene seems to be an effective agent for protection of kidneys in ischemia reperfusion injury as demonstrated by the histopathological, biochemical, and scintigraphic parameters.