Seyyed Ali Mard - Research Center for Infectious Diseases of Digestive System (Alimentary Tract Research Center), Physiology Research Center (PRC), Dept. of Physiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Ghaidafeh Akbari - Research Center for Infectious Diseases of Digestive System (Alimentary Tract Research Center), Physiology Research Center (PRC), Dept. of Physiology, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Esrafil Mansouri - Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Department of Anatomic Sciences, School of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran
Mahdi Parsanahad - Virology department, School of Medicine Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

Objective(s): The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effects of hepatic ‎ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury on the activity of antioxidant enzymes, biochemical factors, and ‎histopathological changes in rat kidney, and to investigate the effect of crocin on IR-‎related changes. Materials and Methods: Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomly allocated into four groups (n=۸). They were ‎sham-operated, IR, crocin pre-treatment, and crocin pretreatment+IR groups. Sham-operated ‎and Crocin pre-treatment groups received normal saline (N/S, ۲ ml/day) and crocin (۲۰۰ mg/kg) ‎for seven consecutive days intraperitoneally (IP), respectively, then rats underwent laparotomy, only. ‎IR and crocin pretreatment+IR groups received N/S and crocin with the same dose, time, and route, ‎respectively, then rats underwent partial (۷۰%) ischemia for ۴۵ min that was followed by reperfusion ‎for ۶۰ min. At the end of the experiment, kidney specimens were taken for histopathological and ‎antioxidant evaluations and also blood samples were obtained for biochemical analysis. Results: The results of the present study showed that crocin pre-treatment significantly increased ‎the activity of antioxidants, decreased the serum levels of liver enzymes and blood urea nitrogen ‎following IR-induced hepatic injury. Crocin also ameliorated kidney´s histopathological ‎disturbance beyond IR-induced hepatic injury. Conclusion: Crocin as an antioxidant agent protected renal insult following liver IR injury by ‎increasing the activity of antioxidant enzymes, reducing serum levels of liver enzymes, and ‎improving histopathological changes.‎

Antioxidant, Crocin, Ischemia/reperfusion Kidney, Liver, Rat