The effect of ischemia/reperfusion on the kidney graft.

Ischemia/reperfusion injury is an unavoidable companion after kidney transplantation and influences short-term as well as long-term graft outcome. Clinically ischemia/reperfusion injury is associated with delayed graft function, graft rejection, and chronic graft dysfunction. Ischemia/reperfusion affects many regulatory systems at the cellular level as well as in the renal tissue that eventually result in a distinct inflammatory reaction of the kidney graft.Underlying factors include energy metabolism, cellular changes of the mitochondria and cellular membranes, initiation of different forms of cell death-like apoptosis and necrosis together with a recently discovered mixed form termed necr…