Hepatic cirrhosis increases sensitivity of kidney to endotoxin in rats.
BACKGROUND
Renal failure in cirrhotic patients is a severe complication and endotoxemia might be involved. We investigated the effect of endotoxin on renal function of cirrhotic rats and the potential protective role of N-acetylcysteine (NAC).


METHODS
Hepatic cirrhosis was generated in a rat model by carbon tetrachloride. Both cirrhotic and normal rats were insulted by endotoxin intravenously, while another cirrhotic group was pre-treated with NAC. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine were assayed eight hours later. The changes in serum tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a) were assayed by ELISA. The histological changes in the kidney were observed after hematoxylin and eosin staining.


RESULTS
Endotoxin increased the BUN and creatinine levels in both normal and cirrhotic rats, with a much higher elevation in the latter group. TNF-a concentration was also increased by endotoxin; the changes are positively correlated with BUN and creatinine. NAC pretreatment significantly attenuates the effects of endotoxin on BUN, creatinine and TNF-a levels in cirrhotic rats with no improvement in systemic toxicity symptoms. There were no obvious histological changes in the kidney of these animals.


CONCLUSIONS
Hepatic cirrhosis increased the sensitivity of renal function to endotoxemia, which may be protected by NAC.
Liu
Jian-Jun
JJ
Department of Gastroenterology, Zhongshan Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, P.R. China. jian-jun.liu@med.lu.se
Wang
Ji-Yao
JY
Zhang
Chi
C
Nilsson
Ake
A
Duan
Rui-Dong
RD
D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D004731:Endotoxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D007668:Kidney / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley
D004731:Endotoxins; D000111:Acetylcysteine