Kidney therapeutic potential of peptides derived from the bromelain hydrolysis of green peas protein

Objective(s): Kidney disease is a global health problem that needs a solution to its therapy. In the previous study, we found that protein hydrolysate of green peas origin of Indonesia hydrolysed by bromelain (PHGPB) showed improve kidney function in cisplatin-induced nephropathy rats. In this study, we investigated the effect of PHGPB to obtain effective dose that exerts a therapeutic effect on chronic kidney disease (CKD) based on reducing urea and creatinine levels and to elucidate its mechanism of action. Materials and Methods: Two sets of experiments were conducted: (1) characteristics and  proteomic profile of PHGPB, (2) in vivo test of PHGPB in gentamycin-induced Wistar rats, including urea and creatinine measurements, activities of antioxidant and kidney-related peptides (ANP, COX-1, and renin).Results: PHGPB showed three bands under 10 kDa using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and contained 10 identified proteins using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Significant differences in urea and creatinine levels were found between all PHGPB treatments and positive controls (P<0.01). The lowest levels of urea and creatinine that were validated by high super oxide dismutase (SOD) activity and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) level were obtained in the 200 mg/day PHGPB treatment. However, the mean renin level was high and cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) level did not exceed positive and negative control levels. Conclusion: PHGPB at dose 200 mg/kgBW shows a potential CKD therapeutic effect that is dose-dependent. Higher PHGPB dose corresponds to better effect on kidney function by increasing antioxidant activity and ANP levels in gentamycin-induced Wistar rats.