Protective effect of sodium aescinate against hydronephrosis injury in mice after unilateral ureteral obstruction

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the role of sodium aescinate in improving and protecting against hydronephrosis injury in mice after unilateral ureteral obstruction（UUO）.Methods A total of 24 healthy male WTC57BL/6 mice，aged 8 weeks，were divided into sham-operation group（Sham group），model group（UUO group），and sodium aescinate group（UUO+sodium aescinate group），with 8 mice in each group. The UUO model was the most commonly used model for the study of hydronephrosis，and the ureter at one side was ligated with silk thread through a lumbar incision（the ureter at one side was ligated and the kidney at the contralateral side was removed to ensure unilateral hydronephrosis and rule out the influence of normal compensation of the kidney at the contralateral side） to establish a mouse model of hydronephrosis after UUO. After corresponding treatment was given for each group，an automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the levels of serum creatinine（Scr） and blood urea nitrogen（BUN）；related kits were used to measure the content of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α），interleukin-1β（IL-1β），superoxide dismutase（SOD），and malondialdehyde（MDA）；histopathological sections were prepared and then HE staining was used to observe renal histopathological changes under a light microscope and determine the corresponding pathological injury score；the TUNEL method was used to measure the level of cell apoptosis.Results Compared with the Sham group，the UUO group had significant increases in the levels of Scr（21.49±2.87 vs. 11.21±1.79），BUN（19.80±2.55 vs. 9.40±1.78），TNF-α（20.06±1.32 vs. 10.18±0.56），IL-1β（9.65±0.79 vs. 3.46±0.59），and MDA（26.01±1.02 vs. 15.12±1.15），the level of cell apoptosis（150.02±14.78 vs. 86.82±5.66），and renal pathological injury score（3.00±0.46 vs. 0.00±0.00）（P=0.000），as well as a significant reduction in the level of SOD（95.63±3.13 vs. 143.66±5.44，P=0.000）. Compared with the UUO group，the UUO+sodium aescinate group had significant reductions in the levels of Scr（15.94±0.74 vs. 21.49±2.87），BUN（13.08±0.85 vs. 19.80±2.55），TNF-α（15.01±0.90 vs. 20.06±1.32），IL-1β（5.62±0.65 vs. 9.65±0.79），and MDA（19.12±1.08 vs. 26.01±1.02），the level of cell apoptosis（103.97±10.33 vs. 150.02±14.78），and renal pathological injury score（1.57±0.36 vs. 3.00±0.46）（P=0.000），as well as a significant increase in the level of SOD（121.04±3.61 vs. 95.63±3.13，P=0.000）.Conclusion Sodium aescinate exerts a protective effect against hydronephrosis injury after UUO by exerting an anti-inflammatory effect，inhibiting oxidative stress response，and showing an anti-exudation effect to increase vascular tension，and therefore，it becomes a potential treatment option.