Background: Remote ischemic perconditioning (RIPerC) has been demonstrated to protect grafts from hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). This study investigated the role of exosomes in RIPerC of liver grafts in rats.
Methods: Twenty-five rats (including 10 donors) were randomly divided into five groups (n = 5 each group): five rats were used as sham-operated controls (Sham), ten rats were for orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT, 5 donors and 5 recipients) and ten rats were for OLT + RIPerC (5 donors and 5 recipients). Liver architecture and function were evaluated.
Results: Compared to the OLT group, the OLT + RIPerC group exhibited significantly improved liver graft histopathology and liver function (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the number of exosomes and the level of P-Akt were increased in the OLT + RIPerC group.
Conclusions: RIPerC effectively improves graft architecture and function, and this protective effect may be related to the increased number of exosomes. The upregulation of P-Akt may be involved in underlying mechanisms.
Keywords: Exosome; Ischemia-reperfusion injury; P-Akt; Remote ischemic perconditioning.
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