Selenium protects against Pb-induced renal oxidative injury in weaning rats and human renal tubular epithelial cells through activating NRF2

Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier GmbH..

BACKGROUND: Lead (Pb) poisoning posing a crucial health risk, especially among children, causing devastating damage not only to brain development, but also to kidney function. Thus, an urgent need persists to identify highly effective, safe, and low-toxicity drugs for the treatment of Pb poisoning. The present study focused on exploring the protective effects of Se on Pb-induced nephrotoxicity in weaning rats and human renal tubular epithelial cells, and investigated the possible mechanisms.

METHODS: Forty weaning rats were randomly divided into four groups in vivo: control, Pb-exposed, Pb+Se and Se. Serum creatinine (Cr), urea nitrogen (BUN) and hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining were performed to evaluate renal function. The activities of antioxidant enzymes in the kidney tissue were determined. In vitro experiments were performed using human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2 cells). The cytotoxicity of Pb and Se was detected by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Inverted fluorescence microscope was used to investigate cell morphological changes and the fluorescence intensity of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The oxidative stress parameters were measured by a multi-detection reader. Nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor (NRF2) signaling pathways were measured by Western blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in HK-2 cells.

RESULTS: We found that Se alleviated Pb-induced kidney injury by relieving oxidative stress and reducing the inflammatory index. Se significantly increased the activity of the antioxidant enzymes glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), whereas it decreased the excessive release of malondialdehyde (MDA) in the kidneys of weaning rats and HK-2 cells. Additionally, Se enhanced the antioxidant defense systems via activating the NRF2 transcription factor, thereby promoting the to downstream expression of heme oxygenase 1. Furthermore, genes encoding glutamate-cysteine ligase synthetase catalytic (GCLC), glutamate-cysteine ligase synthetase modifier (GCLM) and NADPH quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1), downstream targets of NRF2, formed a positive feedback loop with NRF2 during oxidative stress responses. The MTT assay results revealed a significant decrease in cell viability with Se treatment, and the cytoprotective role of Se was blocked upon knockdown of NRF2 by small interfering RNA (siRNA). MDA activity results also showed that NRF2 knockdown inhibited the NRF2-dependent transcriptional activity of Se.

CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that Se ameliorated Pb-induced nephrotoxicity by reducing oxidative stress both in vivo and in vitro. The molecular mechanism underlying Se's action in Pb-induced kidney injury is related to the activation of the NRF2 transcription factor and the activity of antioxidant enzymes, ultimately suppressing ROS accumulation.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:83

Enthalten in:

Journal of trace elements in medicine and biology : organ of the Society for Minerals and Trace Elements (GMS) - 83(2024) vom: 15. März, Seite 127420

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Tian, Chongmei [VerfasserIn]
Qiu, Yu [VerfasserIn]
Zhao, Yaping [VerfasserIn]
Fu, Liping [VerfasserIn]
Xia, Daozong [VerfasserIn]
Ying, Junjie [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

2P299V784P
Antioxidants
EC 6.3.2.2
GAN16C9B8O
Glutamate-Cysteine Ligase
Glutathione
H6241UJ22B
Journal Article
Lead
NF-E2-Related Factor 2
NRF2
Oxidative stress
RNA, Small Interfering
Reactive Oxygen Species
Selenium
Weaning rats

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 18.03.2024

Date Revised 18.03.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.jtemb.2024.127420

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM369219961