Effect and mechanism of adrenomedullin on apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cell in rats induced by renal ischemia reperfusion injury

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of adrenomedullin (AM) on apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cell in rats induced by renal ischemia reperfusion injury. Methods Thirty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control group, IRI group, empty plasmid group and AM group. One week after removing the right kidney, eukaryotic expression vector encoding rat AM gene was transfected into the left kidney using an ultrasound-microbubble mediated system. After 1 week the transfer efficiency was detected by immunohistochemical method . Renal IRI model induced by clamping left renal arteries for 45 min followed by reperfusion for 24 h. Tubular cell apoptosis was detected by TUNEL assay. Bcl-2, Bax and Fas expressions were examined by RT-PCR. The expressions of caspase-3, caspase-8 and caspase-9 were determined by Western bolt analysis. Results The expression of AM in the AM group was significantly higher than the empty plasmid group (0.51±0.09 vs 0.23±0.05; P 0.05). Conclusion AM can reduce apoptosis of renal tubular epithelial cell induced by renal IRI, the mechanism of which might be achieved by inhibiting caspase-dependent intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. Key words: Adrenomedullin;  Reperfusion injury;  Apoptosis;  Caspase