BACKGROUND

Dexmedetomidine has shown beneficial effects in several inflammatory models, including ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). This study investigated whether the continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine could improve renal IRI in rats.

METHODS

Rats were subjected to either a sham operation and given pentobarbital (10 mg/kg/h; n=6) or were subjected to 45 minutes of renal ischemia and anesthetized with pentobarbital (10 mg/kg/h; n=6), dexmedetomidine (10 or 20 μg/kg/h; both n=6), or both pentobarbital (10 mg/kg/h) and dexmedetomidine (1.0 μg/kg/h; n=6) for 6 hours of reperfusion. Blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine were measured 6 hours after reperfusion. Gene expression mediated by inflammatory systems in the kidney was measured with the real-time reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS

Treatment with 10 or 20 μg/kg/h of dexmedetomidine reduced renal dysfunction. The increases in the messenger RNA expression of interleukin-6, intercellular adhesion molecule 1, and inducible nitric oxide synthase caused by renal IRI were suppressed. Under In rats under pentobarbital anesthesia, 1.0 μg/kg/h of dexmedetomidine also improved renal dysfunction after renal IRI.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrates that continuous infusion of dexmedetomidine improves renal IRI. Moreover, with pentobarbital anesthesia, a dose of dexmedetomidine lower than the sedative dose also improves renal IRI.