Sevoflurane protects against acute kidney injury in a small-size liver transplantation model.

BACKGROUND: Living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) patients run the risk of developing acute kidney injury (AKI) and subsequent chronic kidney disease, affecting morbidity and mortality. Sevoflurane has anti-inflammation properties, and renal ischemia/reperfusion under sevoflurane anesthesia resulted in drastic improvements in renal function. Extrahepatic metabolism of sevoflurane has been reported in patients undergoing liver transplantation, and might lead to nephrotoxicity. However, whether sevoflurane anesthesia is safe with regard to renal function in small-size liver transplantation needs further investigation. As neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) is an early predictive biomarker of AKI, we looked at the renal effects of sevoflurane in a rat liver transplantation model using small-for-size grafts to investigate the changes of NGAL level and kidney histology.

METHODS: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups after 50% size liver transplantation. Rats were anesthetized with chloral hydrate or with sevoflurane and subjected to liver transplantation. Twelve rats in each group were used for the survival study and 6 rats were used for the hemodynamic study. Six rats in each group were sacrificed 2 or 24 h after reperfusion. We harvested kidneys and serum for further analysis, including histological and functional parameters; TNF-α, IL-6 and NGAL immunoassay; expressions of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity; and NF-κB in renal tissues.

RESULTS: Rats in the sevoflurane group had significantly lower Scr 24 h after reperfusion compared with those in the chloral hydrate group. Rats in the sevoflurane group demonstrated significantly reduced NGAL concentrations compared with rats in the chloral hydrate group 2 h after reperfusion. Epithelial necrosis in the chloral hydrate group (3.2 ± 0.8) was greater than that in the sevoflurane group (1.5 ± 1.1; p < 0.05). Sevoflurane anesthesia resulted in significantly lower plasma TNF-α and IL-6 concentrations and reduced MPO concentrations 2 h after reperfusion (p < 0.05). NF-κB protein levels 2 h after reperfusion increased by at least 110% in the chloral hydrate group relative to the sevoflurane group 2 h after reperfusion (p < 0.05). However, the urine inorganic fluoride concentrations increased significantly (p < 0.001) 2 h after reperfusion in the sevoflurane group (6.1 ± 1.5 μmol·l⁻¹) compared with the chloral hydrate group.

CONCLUSIONS: Sevoflurane anesthesia can attenuate renal injury and modulate inflammatory cascades in small-size liver transplantation using rat models.