Objective: Chrysin (Chr) is a flavonoid with many biological activities such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiautophagic. The effects of Chr on autophagy, oxidative stress and inflammation was investigated in rats with kidney ischemia reperfusion (I/R) injury.

Material and Method: Fifty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups: Sham, I/R, Chr25mg/kg+I/R, Chr50mg/kg+I/R and Chr100mg/kg+I/R. The rats except sham group were give different doses of Chr and underwent bilateral kidney ischemia for 45 minutes on the 14th day then reperfusion for 24 hours. BUN, creatinine, oxidative stress parameters and cytokines levels were measured biochemically. Beclin-1 and LC-3II levels in left kidney tissues were determined immunohistochemically.

Results: The low and medium doses of Chr decreased BUN, SOD, GSH and TAS, but also increased MDA and TOS levels. Histopathological findings showed a significant decrease in the Chr25mg/kg+I/R and Chr50mg/kg+I/R groups. LC-3II and Beclin-1 immunoreactivity were higher in I/R and Chr100mg/kg+I/R when compared to the other groups.

Conclusion: Administration of low and medium doses of Chr was protective against damage via suppressing autophagy. In addition, low and moder-ate doses of Chr administration before ischemia also protected the tissues against oxidative damage and inflammation, while high-doses of Chr caused damage similar to I/R in the kidney tissue.