Eupafolin nanoparticle improves acute renal injury induced by LPS through inhibiting ROS and inflammation

Acute renal injury is a common severe clinical syndrome, occurring in many clinical situations. It is necessary to explore effective drugs to treat it. Eupafolin is a flavonoid compound, derived from Phyla nodiflora, which has been previously reported to possess a variety of pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. However, it is known little about how it works in acute renal injury. Also, eupafolin is characterized by skin penetration and poor water solubility, limiting its clinical applications. Thus, we synthesized an eupafolin nanoparticle delivery system. We found that eupafolin nanoparticle could address the physicochemical defects of raw eupafolin and increase water solubility without any toxicity to normal renal cells via reducing particle size. Eupafolin nanoparticle attenuated LPS-induced acute renal injury in mice through inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammation accompanied with up-regulated SOD activity and down-regulated pro-inflammatory cytokines. Additionally, inactivation of NF-κB and MAPKs of p38, ERK1/2 and JNK signaling pathways was a main molecular mechanism by which eupafolin nanoparticle improved renal injury. Together, eupafolin nanoparticle exhibits effective anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which could be used as a potential drug to ameliorate acute renal injury clinically.