Comparison of biomarkers in rat renal ischemia-reperfusion injury

To observe the expressions of monocyte chemoattractant protein -l (MCP-l), kidney injury molecule -l (KIM-l) and cystatin C (Cys C) in different periods of rat ischemic acute kidney injury (iAKI). The rat renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) model was prepared, including the sham-operation (Sham) group and the I/R group. The specimens were collected at different time points after iAKI. The expressions of MCP-1, KIM-1 and Cys C of the I/R group were increased earlier than Scr and Urea (I/R group vs. Sham group; P < 0.01). The serum MCP-1 of the I/R group was earliest increased (MCP-1 vs. KIM-1, Cys C and Scr, P < 0.01). Followed by KIM-1 and Cys C; and in the urine samples, the KIM-1 expression was the most sensitive (KIM-1 vs. MCP-1, Cys C and Scr, P < 0.01). The immunohistochemical results showed the kidney of the Sham group almost had no expression, while that of the I/R group significantly expressed MCP-1, KIM-1 and Cys C (I/R group vs. Sham group; P < 0.01). MCP-1, KIM-1 and Cys C had important predictive values towards AKI, and MCP-1 and KIM-1 were superior to Cys C. Different biomarkers had different sensitivities: MCP-1 was earliest increased in serum while lasted shortly, KIM-1 was earliest increased in urine and kept increasing, thus the detection of urinary KIM-1 might be much more suitable in clinics.