Effect of ecstasy on heat shock protein expression and apoptosis in rat kidney

We investigated the effects of ecstasy on the expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and apoptosis in rat kidney. We used 20 adult male Wister rats divided into four groups of five: control, sham, Ecs 5 and Ecs 10; the latter two groups were administered by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection 5 and 10 mg/kg ecstasy, respectively. At the end of the experiment, the kidneys were removed, fixed, and prepared for immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining to evaluate the expression of HSP70 and apoptosis, respectively. HSP70 expression and apoptosis cells were significantly increased in most parts of the kidneys, and kidney weight and volume were decreased in rats administrated 10 mg/kg ecstasy compared to the control group. Administration of 5 mg/kg ecstasy significantly increased HSP70 expression in the distal and collecting tubules and the number of TUNEL-positive cells in the proximal, distal convoluted tubules and renal corpuscles compared to the control group. We found that ecstasy increases HSP70 expression and apoptosis in renal tissue.