Intravenous injection of Xuebijing attenuates acute kidney injury in rats with paraquat intoxication.

BACKGROUND The study aimed to investigate the therapeutic benefits of intravenous Xuebijing on acute kidney injury (AKI) in rats with paraquat intoxication. METHODS Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided equally into three groups: sham group (n=8), paraquat group (n=8) and Xuebijing-treated group (n=8) using a random number table. The rats were intraperitoneally injected with 50 mg/kg of paraquat. One hour after paraquat administration, the rats were treated intravenously with Xuebijing (8 mL/kg). At 12 hours after paraquat administration, serum was collected to evaluate kidney function, then the rats were sacrificed and kidney samples were immediately harvested. AKI scores were evaluated by renal histopathology and pro-inflammatory cytokines mRNA levels in kidney were assayed using real-time RT-PCR. RESULTS Serum urea nitrogen, creatinine and AKI scores were significantly higher in the paraquat group, compared with the sham group (P<0.05, respectively). Moreover, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA levels were significantly higher in the paraquat group (P<0.01, respectively). However, intravenous Xuebijing significantly decreased serum urea nitrogen, creatinine, AKI scores and IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA levels, compared with the paraquat group (P<0.05, respectively). CONCLUSION Intravenous Xuebijing attenuates AKI following paraquat poisoning by suppressing inflammatory response.