Free radical ablation for the prevention of post-ischemic renal failure following renal transplantation.

The toxic metabolites of oxygen, including those which are free radicals, have been found to constitute a fundamental common pathway of tissue injury in a wide variety of disease processes, including injury in many organs resulting from post-ischemic reperfusion. Research efforts designed to prevent or ameliorate tissue injury have therefore centered on the pharmacologic inhibition of free radical-mediated mechanisms. This approach has particular application to post-ischemic renal failure seen in renal transplantation, after a well-defined period of graft ischemia, followed by reperfusion.