Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the most common side effect of cisplatin, a widely used chemotherapy drug. Although AKI occurs in up to one third of cancer patients receiving cisplatin, effective renal protective strategies are lacking. Cisplatin targets renal proximal tubular epithelial cells leading to inflammation, reactive oxygen species, tubular cell injury, and eventually cell death. The cho...

Endotoxemia induces a hemodynamic form of acute renal failure (ARF; renal vasoconstriction +/- reduced glomerular ultrafiltration coefficient, K(f); minimal/no histological damage). We tested whether levosimendan (LS), an ATP-sensitive K+ (K(ATP)) channel opener with cardiac ionotropic and possible anti-inflammatory properties, might have utility in combating this form of ARF. CD-1 mice were in...

Aim. Hydrangea paniculata (HP) Sieb. is a medical herb which is widely distributed in southern China, and current study is to evaluate renal protective effect of aqueous extract of HP by cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in animal model and its underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods. HP extract was prepared and the major ingredients were coumarin glycosides. AKI mouse models wer...

BACKGROUND/AIMS It remains elusive whether there is a crosstalk between Smad and mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) and whether it regulates cyclosporine A (CyA)-induced apoptosis in renal proximal tubular cells (RPTCs). METHODS The effect of CyA on nuclear translocation of Smad2/3 and MAPKs (measured by Western blotting or immunofluorescence) and apoptosis (determined by Hoechst 33258...

Obesity is a major and independent risk factor of kidney diseases. The pathogenic mechanisms of obesity-associated renal injury are recognized to at least involve a lipid-rich and pro-inflammatory state of the renal tissues, but specific mechanisms establishing causal relation remain unknown. Saturated fatty acids are elevated in obesity, and known to induce chronic inflammation in kidneys. Mye...

T he introduction of new immunosuppression drugs in the 1990s resulted in marked reduction in acute rejection but had no appreciable impact on long-term graft survival. A major impediment to the improvement of long-term outcome has been attributed to the inexorable and progressive nephrotoxicity associated with the use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNI). With the introduction of sirolimus in trans...

Rap1b ameliorates high glucose (HG)-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in tubular cells. However, its role and precise mechanism in diabetic nephropathy (DN) in vivo remain unclear. We hypothesize that Rap1 plays a protective role in tubular damage of DN by modulating primarily the mitochondria-derived oxidative stress. The role and precise mechanisms of Rap1b on mitochondrial dysfunction and of...

This study assessed gentamicin's effects on ischemia/reperfusion renal injury to better understand when and how it worsens postischemic acute renal failure. Rats were subjected to 25 minutes of renal pedicle occlusion with and without preischemic (15-minute) or postischemic (15-minute or 8-hour) gentamicin treatment (100 mg/kg, by itself a subtoxic dose). Gentamicin's impact on hypoxia/reoxygen...

This study assessed gentamicin's effects on ischemia/reperfusion renal injury to better understand when and how it worsens postischemic acute renal failure. Rats were subjected to 25 minutes of renal pedicle occlusion with and without preischemic (15-minute) or postischemic (15-minute or 8-hour) gentamicin treatment (100 mg/kg, by itself a subtoxic dose). Gentamicin's impact on hypoxia/reoxygen...

Sepsis-associated acute renal failure is characterized by decreased GFR and tubular dysfunction. The pathogenesis of endotoxemic tubular dysfunction with failure in urine concentration and increased fractional sodium excretion is poorly understood. This study investigated the regulation of renal sodium transporters during severe inflammation in vivo and in vitro. Injection of high-dosage LPS re...