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Hepatic cirrhosis increases sensitivity of kidney to endotoxin in rats
Jian-Jun Liu1, Ji-Yao Wang, Chi Zhang
1Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China. jian-jun.liu@med.lu.se
Background:
Renal failure in cirrhotic patients is a severe complication and endotoxemia might be involved. We investigated the effect of endotoxin on renal function of cirrhotic rats and the potential protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC).
Material/Methods:
Hepatic cirrhosis was generated in a rat model by carbon tetrachloride. Both cirrhotic and normal rats were insulted by endotoxin intravenously, while another cirrhotic group was pre-treated with NAC. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were assayed eight hours later. The changes in serum tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) were assayed by ELISA. The histological changes in the kidney were observed after hematoxylin and eosin staining.
Results:
Endotoxin increased the BUN and creatinine levels in both normal and cirrhotic rats, with a much higher elevation in the latter group. TNF-a concentration was also increased by endotoxin; the changes are positively correlated with BUN and creatinine. NAC pretreatment significantly attenuates the effects of endotoxin on BUN, creatinine and TNF-a levels in cirrhotic rats with no improvement in systemic toxicity symptoms. There were no obvious histological changes in the kidney of these animals.
Conclusions:
Hepatic cirrhosis increased the sensitivity of renal function to endotoxemia, which may be protected by NAC.