Protective Effect Of Ginsenoside Against Acute Renal Failure And Expression Of TH In The Locus Coeruleus (LC)

Objective: In the present study, we investigated the renal protective effect of ginsenoside administrated orally on acute renal failure in rats and its correlation with the changes of TH-immunoreactivity and the mediation of mitogen-activated protein kinases in the locus coeruleusMethods: Male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups, ARF+NS group, ARF+GS group, NS+NS group and NS+GS group. Glycerol-induced acute renal failure in rats was employed. Blood urea nitrogen and Creatinine were measured by commercial regents, as well as malondialdehyde, reduced glutathione hormone and nitric oxide in renal cortex homogenate by experiment in vivo. Renal histopathological changes were measured by HE stain. Meanwhile, the changes of TH-IR and ERK-IR in the LC were observed by immunohistochemistry.Results: 1.Glycerol-induced ARF rats treated with NS (2ml) for 48h (ARF+NS group) showed a significant increase in BUN and Cre (P﹤0.05). However, Glycerol-induced ARF rats treated with GS for 48h (ARF+GS group) showed a significant decrease in BUN and Cre (P﹤0.05).2.In ARF+NS group, severe tubular necrosis was observed, but not in ARF+GS group.3.In ARF+NS group, the level of MDA in renal cortex homogenate significantly increasd (P﹤0.05), but GSH markedly decreased (P﹤0.05). However, in ARF+GS group the level of MDA in renal cortex homogenate significantly decreased, but GSH markedly increased (P﹤0.05).4.In ARF+NS group, the level of NO in renal cortex homogenate significantly decreased , but significantly increased in ARF+GS group. 5.Immunohistochemistry showed an obvious increase of TH-IR in the LC in ARF+NS group(P﹤0.05); but TH-IR was further enhanced in ARF+GS group, compared with that in ARF+NS group(P﹤0.05).6.Immunohistochemistry also showed an obvious increase of ERK-IR in the LC In ARF+NS group(P﹤0.05); but ERK-IR was further enhanced in ARF+GS group, compared with that in ARF+NS group(P﹤0.05).Conclusion: Our results indicated that ginsenoside administrated orally in glycerol-induced ARF rats significantly improved renal function, decreased the severity of tubular necrosis, increased antioxidative effects and prevented renal damage. These findings suggested that ginsenoside may have a strong renal protecting effect against glycerol-induced acute renal failure. Meanwhile, the effect above may have some relationship with the increased level of NO. Our results also indicated that ginsenoside administrated orally could further increase the expression of TH and ERK in the LC in ARF rats. Consequenty, we provided a new evidence that brain catecholaminergic neuron and MAPK signaling pathway in the LC contributed to renal protective effect of ginsenoside against acute renal failure.