Effect of erythropoietin on the mRNA expression of apoptosis genes bcl-2 and bax in rats with fatty liver disease after hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury

Objective To investigate the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on the mRNA expression of apoptosis genes bcl-2 and bax in rats with fatty liver disease after hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury.Methods A total of 100 male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were fed with high-fat diet for 12 weeks.After the model was established, the rats with fatty liver disease were randomly divided into sham-operation (SHAM) group, ischemia/reperfusion (IR) group, IR+low-dose EPO group (EPO-1 group) , IR+middle-dose EPO group (EPO-2 group) , and IR+high-dose EPO group (EPO-3 group) .The IR model was established by completely blocking the blood flow in the middle and left lobes of the liver to induce ischemia in 70%of the liver, with an ischemia time of 80 minutes.The rats were sacrificed at 1, 3, and 6 hours of reperfusion after 80 minutes of ischemia, and RT-PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of bcl-2 and bax in liver tissue.A one-way analysis of variance was used for comparison of continuous data between multiple groups, and the least significant difference test was used for further comparison between two groups.Results Compared with the IR group, the EPO-1, EPO-2, and EPO-3 groups had a significant increase in the mRNA expression of bcl-2 and a significant reduction in the mRNA expression of bax at each time point (all P<0.05) .The SHAM group and the EPO groups had a significantly higher bcl/bax mRNA ratio than the IR group at each time point (all P<0.05) .Conclusion EPO exerts a protective effect against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats with fatty liver disease, possibly by promoting the mRNA expression of bcl-2 and inhibiting the mRNA expression of bax.High-dose EPO has a better effect than middle-and low-dose EPO.