Scintigraphic evaluation of remote pre-conditioning protection against unilateral renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats: a longitudinal study

Abstract

Purpose To determine the role of remote perconditioning (RPeC) on renal function and histology in an animal model of unilateral renal ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury. Methods Rats were subjected to 60 min unilateral renal ischemia. RPeC protocol was the application of four cycles of 5 min IR of left femoral artery during renal ischemia. Assessments of histological changes and renal function were made 24 h, 1 week, or 3 weeks later. 99mTc-DMSA scan was performed using a small-animals SPECT system. Results 24-h reperfusion decreased the 99mTc-DMSA uptake in the left kidney compared to the intact kidney of control animals. RPeC group has higher uptake compared to the IR group. After 1 week and 3 weeks, uptakes were gradually increased in both groups and no differences were observed. Severe morphological changes in the ischemic kidneys of both groups were observed after 24 h which attenuated after 1 week and 3 weeks. Moreover, no differences in creatinine and BUN levels between IR-treated and intact animals were observed. Conclusion These data suggest that RPeC exerts a partially transient improvement in the renal function in the first day after reperfusion. However, long-term follow-up study showed no beneficial effects of RPeC. Moreover, noninvasive 99mTc-DMSA scan revealed a suitable tool in the follow-up evaluation of recovery process in the unilateral renal IR injury models.

Clinical and experimental approaches for imaging of acute kidney injury

“…The use of 99m Tc-DMSA and 99m Tc-MAG3 for cortex imaging and dynamic renography, respectively, in mice with cisplatin-induced AKI has been reported [ 82 ]. 99m Tc-DMSA was used to evaluate the effects of remote preconditioning in renal function of IRI kidneys [ 83 ]. 99m Tc-DTPA is cleared from the plasma through glomerular filtration and is not absorbed or secreted by the tubules, enabling the measurements of single-kidney GFR.…”