Phycocyanobilin is the molecule responsible for the nephroprotective action of phycocyanin in acute kidney injury caused by mercury

Abstract

C-phycocyanin (CPC) exerts therapeutic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory actions. It prevents oxidative stress and acute kidney damage caused by HgCl2. However, the exact mechanism of the pharmacological action of C-phycocyanin...

Phycocyanin ameliorates mouse colitis via phycocyanobilin-dependent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection of the intestinal epithelial barrier

“…(2021) demonstrated that PCB is responsible for antioxidant nephroprotection by phycocyanin in the HgCl 2 -induced kidney injury in mice. 7 Therefore, PCB might be an essential material basis for phycocyanin's nutraceutical functions.…”

C-phycoerythrin from Phormidium persicinum Prevents Acute Kidney Injury by Attenuating Oxidative and Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress

“…C-PE may act as a prodrug that leads to the release of the phycoerythrobilin moiety into the gastrointestinal tract, as previously demonstrated by our group for C-PC and phycocyanobilin [22]. C-PC is known to break down into chromo-peptides that contain phycocyanobilin, followed by the apparent absorption of linear tetrapyrrole compounds facilitated by the action of intestinal peptidases [24,25].…”

“…In recent years, the use of nutraceuticals from cyanobacteria and their metabolites has proven effective against renal damage (e.g., AKI) stemming from toxicants or chronic kidney disease [16,[20][21][22]. Purified C-PE presently demonstrated nephroprotective activity when tested against HgCl 2 -induced AKI, as evidenced by the reduction found in oxidative stress and ER stress.…”

“…Kidneys were homogenized in 3.5 mL of 10 mM PB for all assays. The quantification of oxidative stress, the redox environment, and the activity of effector caspases 3 and 9 was performed with a previously described method [3,22].…”

“…Each section was stained with H&E, dehydrated, and mounted in resin. The presence or absence of kidney cell damage was evaluated with a histopathological graded scale [6,20,22] as follows: 0, undamaged (indistinguishable from the controls); 1, minimal (affecting ≤25% of the tubules and glomerulus); 2, mild (affecting >25% and ≤50% of the tubules and glomerulus); 3, moderate (affecting >50% and ≤75% of the tubules and glomerulus); 4, severe (affecting >75% of the tubules and glomerulus).…”