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Hepatic ischemia reperfusion (IR) is an inevitable clinical problem for surgical procedures such as liver transplantation and liver resection. This study was designed to evaluate the protective effect of perindopril (PER) against hepatic IR injury. Thirty‐two rats were used and randomly allocated into four groups. Sham control group was subjected to sham operation and received saline only, IR group was subjected to IR and received vehicle, PER group was pretreated with PER (one milligram per kilogram per day i.p. for 10 consecutive days), and IR+PER group was pretreated with PER then subjected to IR. Liver function biomarkers (aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase), oxidative stress (glutathione, malondialdehyde, myeloperoxidase, and superoxide dismutase) and inflammation markers (tumor necrosis factor‐alpha, interferon‐gamma, and inteleukin‐10 [IL‐10]), mRNA expression of NF‐κB‐p65 and TLR‐4, as well as protein expression of JAK1, STAT‐3, PI3K, mTOR, Akt, and Nrf‐2 were investigated concomitantly with histopathological examination. The results indicated that, hepatic IR induced a significant alteration in liver function biomarkers and structure, oxidative stress, and inflammation. At the molecular level, up‐regulation of NF‐κB‐p65, TLR‐4, JAK1, and STAT‐3 concomitantly with down‐regulation of Nrf‐2, IL‐10, PI3K, Akt, and mTOR were observed. These disturbances were alleviated by pretreatment of IR rats with PER in concomitant with hepatic structural improvement. Conclusively, the protective effect of PER presumably may be relevant to its ability to reduce oxidative stress, ameliorate the inflammatory processes, and modify the related signaling pathways. Anat Rec, 2019. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy Anat Rec, 303:1935–1949, 2020. © 2019 American Association for Anatomy

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Gentamicin (GNT) is a potent aminoglycoside antibiotic widely used to treat life-threatening bacterial infections. We aim to investigate the potential protective effect of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) against GNT-induced nephrotoxicity. In this study, 24 male Wistar rats were used and randomly divided into four groups of six animals each. Control group received 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose orally for 15 days, GNT group received GNT 100 mg/kg/day i.p. for 8 days, UDCA group received UDCA orally for 15 consecutive days at a dose of 60 mg/kg/day suspended in 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose and UDCA-pretreated group received UDCA orally for 7 days then co-administered with GNT i.p. for 8 days at the same fore-mentioned doses. Serum levels of kidney function parameters (urea, creatinine, uric acid and albumin) were measured. Renal tissues were used to evaluate oxidative stress markers; malonaldehyde (MDA), reduced glutathione (GSH) and the anti-oxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities and nuclear factor kappa light-chain enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) mRNA levels. Immunohistochemical expression of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and caspase-3 and histological and ultrastructural examination were performed. Treatment with GNT increased the serum levels of renal function parameters and renal MDA, NF-κB and KIM-1 mRNA levels, while it decreased GSH and SOD activities. Marked immunohistochemical expression of caspase-3 was observed after GNT administration while it decreased eNOS expression. Histological and ultrastructural alterations were also evident in renal corpuscles and tubules. In contrast, pretreatment with UDCA reversed changes caused by GNT administration. These results suggest that UDCA ameliorates GNT-induced kidney injury via inhibition of oxidative stress, inflammation and apoptosis.

Cisplatin (Cis) is one of the most potent and effective broad‐spectrum antitumor drugs, but its use is limited due to nephrotoxicity. The current study investigated the renoprotective effect of umbelliferone (UMB) on Cis‐induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Renal injury was induced by a single injection of Cis (7 mg/kg, ip). Our results exhibited that the injection of Cis significantly disrupted renal function biomarkers as well as KIM‐1 expression. The expressions of TNF‐α, IL‐1β, NF‐kB‐p65, and IKKβ were elevated along with downregulation of IkBα expression. Also, Cis disrupted cellular oxidant/antioxidant balance through the reduction of glutathione (GSH), glutathione‐S‐transferase (GST), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) levels and elevation of malondialdehyde (MDA) content. On the contrary, the levels of renal function biomarkers, cytokines, NF‐kB‐p65, IkBα, IKKβ, and oxidant/antioxidant status have been improved after UMB treatment. Mechanistically, rats administered Cis only exhibited a significant decrease in NRF2 and cytoglobin expressions as well as the CREB, SIRT1, FOXO‐3, and PPAR‐γ genes. Treatment with UMB significantly upregulated NRF2 and cytoglobin proteins, as well as effectively increased the expression of CREB, SIRT1, FOXO‐3, PPAR‐γ, and NRF2 genes. Histopathological findings strongly supported our biochemical results, as evidenced by attenuation of renal hemorrhage, cast diffusion, and inflammatory cell infiltration. Interestingly, UMB significantly enhanced Cis cytotoxicity in both HL‐60 and HeLa cells in a dose‐dependent manner. Together, our results demonstrated that UMB can protect against Cis‐induced nephrotoxicity in normal rats along with the enhancement of its in vitro antitumor activity. These findings suggested that UMB could be used as a potential adjuvant therapy in Cis chemotherapeutic protocols.

Methotrexate (MTX) is a widely used chemotherapeutic agent; nevertheless, the nephrotoxicity associated with its use has limited its clinical use. Rebamipide (REB) is a gastro‐protective agent with diverse promising biological activities. Here, we investigated the renoprotective effects of REB against MTX‐induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Male Wistar rats were allocated into four groups: the normal control group, the REB group (100 mg kg−1 day−1, PO, for 12 days), the MTX group (which received a single injection of 20 mg/kg, ip), and the REB + MTX group (which received 100 mg kg−1 day−1 REB for 7 days before and 5 days after being injected with 20 mg/kg MTX). Interestingly, MTX triggered kidney injury, characterized by renal dysfunction along with histopathological alterations. Moreover, increased reactive oxygen species level and inflammatory response were detected in the kidney of MTX‐treated rats. However, REB prevented MTX‐induced oxidative kidney injury and boosted an antioxidant balance. Mechanistically, REB markedly activated the NRF‐2 protein and upregulated the expression of both SIRT‐1 and FOXO‐3 genes. Additionally, REB administration strongly inhibited the inflammatory response by downregulating both NF‐κB‐p65 and TLR‐4. Finally, the coadministration of REB and MTX activated the mTOR/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Simultaneously, REB treatment attenuated the reduction in glomerular size, the widening of the capsular spaces, and the tubular cell damage due to MTX administration. Taken together, these results indicate the potential of REB as adjuvant therapy to prevent nephrotoxicity in patients receiving MTX treatment.

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