Obstructive nephropathy has been associated with disorders in metabolism state and oxidative balance of kidney. Stress oxidative play a key role in the pathophysiological processes of renal diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate effects of vitamin-E, as a powerful antioxidant, on renal oxidative stress and metabolism defect induced by 24-hr unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=10 in each group) were sterilely operated to occlude the left ureter In UUO+NS, we had a single dose normal saline injection and in UUO+VitE

Any obstruction to urinary flow leads to obstructive nephropathy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the renoprotective effects of Crocin following unilateral ureteral obstruction in the rats. Forty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into 5 equal groups. Groups 1 and 2 were considered as control and sham operated rats, respectively. In group 3 left ureter was obstructed surgically and in group 4 following the left ureteral obstruction, Crocin was gavaged at 50 mg/kg for 15 days. Finally, blood samples were collected for measurement of serum urea, acid uric and creatinine. Malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione contents for assessment of renal free radical activity; and enzymatic activities of glutathione peroxidase, superoxide dismutase and catalase as indicators of antioxidation, were measured in kidney homogenates. Histopathology of left kidney was conducted for verification of biochemical findings. Significant differences among the groups were determined by one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey post-test. Statistical significance was considered at p

Unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) is a clinical scenario that leads to obstructive nephropathy. UUO alters the expression of many mediators in the ipsilateral kidney. Renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is involved in UUO. Angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensin 1-7 (Ang 1-7) as the main arms of RAS influence kidney function which may alter by UUO. Ang II via Ang II receptor subtypes I (AT1R) reduces renal blood flow and glomerular filtration rate and induces oxidative stress, apoptosis as well as inflammation in renal tissue and contributes to renal fibrosis in UUO model. Also, Ang 1-7 receptor (MasR) and Ang II receptor subtype II (AT2R) may have a protective effect against UUO-induced renal injury. In addition, there is crosstalk among RAS with the main vasodilator factors (prostaglandins E2 and I2, bradykinin, atrial natriuretic factor, nitric oxide and adenosine) and the main vasoconstrictor factors (endothelin and vasopressin) in the ipsilateral kidney with UUO. In this review, the roles of the RAS on renal function and its interactions with the other factors in the kidney with UUO were discussed.

Obstructive nephropathy is a common clinical disease.

To explore the value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in obstructive nephropathy.

Forty healthy Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were examined in this study. Thirty-two animals underwent complete obstruction of the left ureter, while eight animals underwent a sham surgery. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed before surgery and within different intervals after surgery. Eight rats from the experimental group and two rats from the sham group were used in each interval. Following MRI, the animals were sacrificed and sent for medical examinations. The scanning sequences included positioning, transverse T2-weighted (T2W), coronal, and coronal DTI sequences. Image postprocessing was performed after DTI to measure DTI parameters, including apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA), and to reconstruct DTI fiber traces. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the parameters between the cortex and medulla and between different intervals.

The fiber tracing showed that the obstructed renal fiber bundles were sparse and disordered. The ADC and FA values of the renal cortex, extrarenal medulla, and inner medulla decreased with prolonged hydrops and were negatively correlated with the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and the renal tubulointerstitial lesion grade (r < 0, P < 0.001). Comparison of the cortex, extrarenal medulla, and inner medulla showed the following trends for the ADC and FA values: cortex > extrarenal medulla > inner medulla and cortex < extrarenal medulla < inner medulla, respectively.

DTI in obstructive nephropathy not only can reflect the degree of renal interstitial fibrosis and accurately indicate the renal function, but also can provide information regarding renal blood perfusion, water metabolism, and ultrastructural changes.

Bilateral ureteral obstruction (BUO) affects renal function adversely. Previous investigations have implied that nitric oxide (NO) improves renal function in obstructive nephropathy. The aim of the current study was to investigate the role of NO precursor, L‑arginine, and NO blocker agent, L‑NAME on kidney tissue damage in rats after 24 h of BUO. Forty Wistar rats (18 male, 22 female) were divided into four groups as follows; group 1: Sham or negative control group that received saline 3 days prior to the sham operation, group 2: Vehicle or positive control group that received saline 3 days prior to BUO, and groups 3 and 4: L‑arginine and L‑NAME groups that were treated same as group 2 except L‑arginine (300 mg/kg) and L‑NAME (4 mg/kg) instead of saline, respectively. Twenty‑four hours after obstruction, the serum levels of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr), nitrite, and malondialdehyde (MDA) as well as kidney tissue levels of nitrite and MDA were measured and histopathological studies were done on left kidney. The serum levels of BUN and Cr and kidney and body weights increased and the tissue levels of MDA and nitrite decreased significantly in all BUO groups (P < 0.05). However,the tissue damage score was significantly lower in the L‑arginine treated group in comparison to the vehicle and L‑NAME groups (P < 0.05). As expected, the serum level of nitrite significantly increased in the L‑arginine group (P < 0.05). Endogenous NO donor; L‑arginine, may protect the kidney tissue against BUO. However, this renoprotective role of L‑arginine did not attenuate the increased kidney function markers (BUN and Cr) induced by obstruction.

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant, which plays a vital role in preventing free radical induced reperfusion injuries. Any disorder in the normal urinary flow is termed obstructive nephropathy which could ultimately lead to hydronephrosis, atrophy and complete impairment of renal function. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of vitamin E on renal tissue following complete unilateral urethral obstruction in the rat. In this experimental study, 30 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups each containing 10 rats. The first group was considered as the control group. Following Unilateral urethral obstruction (UUO), rats in the second group received olive oil intraperitoneally for 15 days starting one day before surgery. Group three rats were given 50 Iu/kg of Vitamin E intraperitoneally for 15 days starting one day before unilateral obstruction (UUO-Vit E). Rats were euthanized at day 14 after surgery for histopathological evaluation and their left kidneys were collected and fixed in formalin and stained with Hematoxylen and Eosin, Trichrome-masson and Periodic Acid Schiff techniques. Histopathological evaluation revealed dilation of the Bowman’s capsule, severe glomerular and tubular atrophy, periglomerular sclerosis, interstitial infiltration of mononuclear cells, severe diffuse tubular degeneration, epithelial thickening of Bowman’s capsule, perivascular edema, interstitial fibrosis, hemorrhage and sub capsular fibrosis in the UUO group. Vitamin E administration in the UUO-Vit E group significantly decreased renal tissue lesions and fibrosis. The result of the present study indicated that urethral obstruction leads to severe renal fibrosis and tissue damage and concurrent administration of Vitamin E decreases tissue lesions and fibrosis resulting from the obstruction.

The aim of the study was to determine the etiology of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) among children attending the pediatric nephrology service at Abuzar children''s hospital in Ahvaz city, the referral center in Southwest of Iran. We reviewed the records of 139 children, diagnosed to have CKD over a 10-year period. CKD was defined a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) below 60 ml/1.73 m2/min persisting for more than 3 months. Among 139 children 81 (58%) were males. The mean age at diagnosis of CKD in the patients was 4.2 (±3.6) years. Mean level of serum creatinine at presentation was 1.9 (±1.4) mg/dl. The mean GFR at presentation was 33.5 (±15.4) ml/1.73m2/min while 22% of the patients were already at end stage renal failure indicating that these children were referred too late. Congenital urologic malformation was the commonest cause of CKD present in 70 (50.4%) children [reflux nephropathy (23.1%), hypo/dysplastic kidney (15.8%), obstructive uropathy (10.8%), and prune belly syndrome (0.7%)]. Other causes included hereditary nephropathies (17.2%), chronic glomerulo-nephritis (6.5%), multisystemic diseases (4.3%), miscellaneous and unknown (each one 10.8%). The mean duration of follow-up was 26 (±24.67) months. Peritoneal or hemodialysis was performed in 10 patients. Six patients underwent (4 live-related and 2 non-related) renal transplantation. The rest have died or received standard conservative management for CKD. The commonest causes of CKD were reflux nephropathy, hypo/dysplastic kidney, hereditary nephropathy and obstructive uropathy. Patients presented late, had severe CKD and were malnourished and stunted.

Congenital obstructive nephropathy is a significant cause of chronic kidney damage in childhood. Therefore, early diagnosis and management of urinary tract obstruction are necessary to prevent or reduce further renal damage. Various biomarkers have been investigated for the early identification of urinary tract obstruction.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the excretion of urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (Urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (uNGAL) & uNGAL/Cr) as a useful, sensitive, and non-invasive diagnostic biomarker in children with ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO).

The study cohort consisted of 47 children with obstructive UPJO and 47 healthy children with normal renal ultrasounds. Ultrasonography and 99mTc DTPA radionuclide scans were used for diagnosing UPJO. All affected children had normal renal function based on GFR measurements. Urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin was measured using Immunoenzymatic ELISA commercial kits.

Urine neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin & uNGAL/Cr levels were significantly higher in children with obstructive UPJO compared to the healthy control group. Additionally, both biomarkers demonstrated acceptable sensitivity and specificity for predicting for predicting UPJO.

Based on these results, measuring uNGAL & uNGAL/Cr is suggested for evaluating children with obstructive UPJO.

To explore the effect of verbascoside on renal fibrosis in unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) rats. Twenty Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly distributed into sham-operated, UUO, and UUO+Verbascoside groups. After two weeks of rat model construction, urine and blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis while kidney tissues were harvested for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), Masson’s Trichrome, and immunohistochemistry staining. Pearson coefficient was used to analyze the correlation between the two proteins. Verbascoside improved UUO-induced renal dysfunction as detected by decreased serum creatinine, urea nitrogen, and urinary protein excretion rate. In UUO rats, H&E staining result revealed increased total nucleated cell number, and Masson’s Trichrome staining results showed tubular interstitial fibrosis with the deposition of collagen fibrils. Besides, expressions of fibrosis-related proteins including collagen type I (COL-I), α-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA), and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 (TIMP2) expressed higher in the UUO group. Moreover, macrophage infiltration-related factors such as CD68+, F4/80+ cells, and suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) were significantly higher in the UUO group than in sham-operated rats. However, after administration with verbascoside, the accumulation of collagen fibrils and total nucleated cell numbers were mitigated. Likewise, macrophage infiltration was extenuated and fibrosis-related proteins were down-regulated in the UUO+Verbascoside rats. Correlation analysis indicated that macrophage infiltration-related markers were related to fibrosis-related factors. Verbascoside could alleviate renal fibrosis in UUO rats probably through ameliorating macrophage infiltration.

Diabetic Nephropathy is one of the main microvascular complications of diabetic mellitus. Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase (MTHFR) is one of the candidate genes of diabetic nephropathy. MTHFR (C677T) polymorphism reduces catalytic activity of MTHFR and leads to increase level of plasma homocysteine. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association of C677T polymorphism with diabetic nephropathy.
In this case control study, 300 individuals, including type 2 diabetes mellitus with diabetic nephropathy (N=104), diabetes mellitus patients without diabetic nephropathy (N=100) and controls (N=96) participated. The MTHFR genotype was determined using PCR-RFLP technique and biochemical parameters were measured.
Genotype frequencies were significantly different between patients with diabetic nephropathy and diabetes mellitus without nephropathy (TT vs CC; P=0.02,OR:0.5,CI:0.3-0.9).The allele frequency was also significantly different between diabetic nephropathy and diabetics mellitus without nephropathy(P=0.013,OR:1.754,CI:1.123-2.740).
These findings suggest that there is an association between C677T polymorphism and nephropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. Allele C increase the risk of nephropathy, and T allele has a protective role in susceptibility to disease.