Protective Effect of Xanthine Oxidase Inhibition on Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rat Liver

Ischaemia reperfusion (I/R) injury is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients undergoing partial liver resection or transplantation. Despite the ongoing research identifying novel approaches of protection against I/R injury such as pharmacologic, genetic surgical approaches, there is still no accepted therapy used in the clinical transplantation to minimize liver injury. In this study we examined the effects of allopurinol (Allo), ischemic preconditioning (IPC) and postconditioning (IPO) on the extent of I/R injury of rat liver in a trial to evaluate their role as a protective strategy against hepatic I/R injury. The study was conducted on 70 adult male albino rats that were divided into the following 5 main groups: Group I: Control sham-operated group, Group II (I/R): Hepatic ischaemia reperfusion group, Group III: Allopurinol–treated (Allo+I/R) group, Group IV: Conditioning group which included ischemic preconditioning (IPC+IR) subgroup and