Continuous infusion ofN-acetylcysteine reduces liver warm ischaemia–reperfusion injury

Abstract

The main protective effect of NAC becomes apparent 5 h after hepatic ischaemic injury.

Ischemic Preconditioning Attenuates Lactate Release by the Liver During Hepatectomies Under Vascular Control: A Case–Control Study

“…8 Pharmacological and surgical interventions have been developed aiming at attenuating the problems inherent in I/R injury. [9][10][11] Ischemic preconditioning (IP)-a short period of ischemia followed by a period of reperfusion prior to the prolonged ischemia-seems to confer protection against the longer ischemic period and subsequent reperfusion insult. 12 Extensive experimental studies and a few clinical series have shown that IP is beneficial not only for the liver but for a variety of other tissues subjected to I/R.…”

Response to antioxidant therapy in liver ischemia-reperfusion injury

“…Glutathione precursors such as N-acetylcysteine, bucillamine, and possibly S-adenosylmethionine could be more effective in situations associated with severe intracellular oxidative stress. Our experimental studies in animals with normal or steatotic livers, undergoing lobar warm liver I/R injury, 12,13 and in a small randomized clinical trial in patients undergoing liver resections, 14 showed beneficial effects of N-acetylcysteine administration. However, a pilot prospective randomized clinical trial on the administration of N-acetyl cysteine to donors, in human liver transplantation, also by our own group, showed no objective evidence of clinical benefit, perhaps highlighting the difficulty of tailoring a therapy without a readily-measurable end-point.…”

Protective Effects of Melatonin and N-Acetylcysteine on Hepatic Injury in a Rat Cardiopulmonary Bypass Model

“…The diversity of pharmacological applications of NAC is mainly due to the chemical properties of the cysteinyl thiol group of its molecule, since the ability of reduced thiol groups to scavenge ROS and reactive nitrogen species has been well established [11][12][13]. Consequently, NAC was widely used in clinical practice as an antioxidant and had been investigated whether it was beneficial for reducing liver ischemiareperfusion (IR) injury in animal models [11][12][13].…”