Pretreatment of oral hydrogen-rich water attenuates renal ischemia-reperfusion injury of kidney transplantation in rats

Objective To examine the protective effect of preoperatively oral hydrogen-rich water on attenuating renal ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury of kidney transplantation in rats and explore the related mechanism. Methods Orthotopic kidney transplantation was performed in Sprague-Dawley rats (n=6). Pretreatment of hydrogen-rich and conventional water started at 1 week pre-transplantation. Conventional water was provided for both donors and recipients in control (C) group, hydrogen-rich water for recipients and conventional water for donors in hydrogen-water-treated recipient (HWR) group, hydrogen-rich water for donors and common water for recipients in hydrogen-water-treated donor (HWD) group, hydrogen-rich water for both donors and recipients in hydrogen-water-treated donor and recipient (HWDR) group. Renal function, oxidative stress, inflammatory and apoptotic parameters were monitored at 24h post-reperfusion. The phosphorylation of p38 in kidney graft was assayed by Western blot. Results As compared with C group, renal function of recipients became ameliorated in HWR/HWD/HWDR group. Meanwhile, oxidative stress and inflammatory response were mitigated and lessened pathological injury and apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cells coincided with suppressing apoptosis-related protein's generation and phosphorylation of p38 (P<0.05). Compared with HWR group, the above differences were more significant in HWD and HWDR groups (P<0.05). Conclusions Preoperative intake of hydrogen water attenuates renal I/R injury after kidney transplantation. And suppressing the activation of p38 MAPK may be a potential mechanism. Key words: Hydrogen; Rat; Kidney transplantation; Ischemia-reperfusion injury; Oxidative stress; Apoptosis; p38 MAPK