Effective and targeted prevention and treatment methods for
acute kidney injury (AKI), a common clinical complication, still needs to be explored.
Paricalcitol is a biologically active chemical that binds to
vitamin D receptors in the body to exert
anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. However, the molecular mechanism of the effect of
paricalcitol on AKI remains unclear. The current study uses a
paricalcitol pretreatment with a mouse AKI model induced by
cisplatin to detect changes in renal function, pathology and ultrastructure. Results showed that
paricalcitol significantly improved renal function in mice and reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and mitochondrial damage in renal tissue. Furthermore,
paricalcitol markedly suppressed
reactive oxygen species and
malondialdehyde levels in the kidneys of AKI mice and increased the levels of
glutathione,
superoxide dismutase,
Catalase and total
anti-oxidant capacity. In addition, we detected renal
necrosis and
inflammation-related
proteins in AKI mice by immunofluorescence and Western blot, and found that their levels were markedly decreased after
paricalcitol pretreatment. Moreover,
paricalcitol promotes nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) in the nucleus and activates the Nrf2/
heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) signaling pathway; while HO-1 is inhibited, the protective effect of
paricalcitol on the kidney is attenuated. In conclusion,
paricalcitol exerts a renoprotective effect by decreasing renal oxidative injury and
inflammation through Nrf2/HO-1 signaling, providing a new insight into AKI prevention.