Picroside II decreases the development of fibrosis induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats

In kidney transplantation, renal ischemia and reperfusion injury was one of the leading factors to the development of renal fibrosis, which was the main cause of graft loss. The fibrogenic changes were associated with the long term inflammation elicited by ischemia and reperfusion injury. In the present study, we investigated the role of the Picroside II, the main active constituents of the extract of picrorrhiza scrophulariiflora roots, in attenuating renal fibrosis in a renal ischemia and reperfusion injury model. We induced ischemia and reperfusion injury in kidneys treated with or without Picroside II. We observed that inflammation and tissue fibrosis were increased in ischemia and reperfusion injury group compared to Picroside II group, however, these changes were significantly decreased by the treatment with Picroside II. We concluded that Picroside II can protect the ischemic kidney against renal fibrosis and its mechanism may be through the inhibition of the long term inflammation.