Abstract

The effect of erythropoietin on ischemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury in the limbs has not been hitherto investigated. Therefore, we aimed at determining whether erythropoietin has protective effects on the limb I/R injury in rabbits. Twenty adult New Zealand white rabbits underwent clamping of the left femoral artery for 6 h. The rabbits were randomly divided into two groups: Group I (limb I/R) received subcutaneous saline injection and group II (limb I/R plus erythropoietin) received subcutaneous erythropoietin (5000 IU/kg) right before declamping. At 10 and 24 h after I/R injury, blood was drawn for biochemical analysis of plasma levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6)-6, and creatine phosphokinase (CPK). After one week, gastrocnemius muscle and tibial nerve was surgically dissected from the ischemic hind limbs for light microscopic study. At 10 and 24 h after I/R injury, the median levels of CPK, IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α were not different between the two groups (p > 0.05). Histopathological evaluation revealed that neither muscle score nor nerve score was different between the studied groups (p > 0.05). In conclusion, it seems that erythropoietin has no protective effect on I/R injury of the limbs in rabbits.

Key words: Limb I/R, erythropoietin, interleukin-1β (IL-1β)- and interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α).