title: Ameliorating Adriamycin-Induced Chronic Kidney Disease in Rats by Orally Administrated Cardiotoxin from Naja naja atra Venom.
abstract: Previous studies reported the oral administration of Naja naja atra venom (NNAV) reduced adriamycin-induced chronic kidney damage. This study investigated the effects of intragastric administrated cardiotoxin from Naja naja atra venom on chronic kidney disease in rats. Wistar rats were injected with adriamycin (ADR; 6 mg/kg body weight) via the tail vein to induce chronic kidney disease. The cardiotoxin was administrated daily by intragastric injection at doses of 45, 90, and 180  μ g/kg body weight until the end of the protocol. The rats were placed in metabolic cages for 24 hours to collect urine, for determination of proteinuria, once a week. After 6 weeks, the rats were sacrificed to determine serum profiles relevant to chronic kidney disease, including albumin, total cholesterol, phosphorus, blood urea nitrogen, and serum creatinine. Kidney histology was examined with hematoxylin and eosin, periodic acid-Schiff, and Masson's trichrome staining. The levels of kidney podocin were analyzed by Western blot analysis and immunofluorescence. We found that cardiotoxin reduced proteinuria and can improve biological parameters in the adriamycin-induced kidney disease model. Cardiotoxin also reduced adriamycin-induced kidney pathology, suggesting that cardiotoxin is an active component of NNAV for ameliorating adriamycin-induced kidney damage and may have a potential therapeutic value on chronic kidney disease.
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Hui
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, China.
authors.forename: Li-Min
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Medicine, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Shu-Zhi
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Medicine, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Qun
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Kou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Medicine, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yin-Li
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Medicine, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Cao-Xin
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: The Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215004, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Pei
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Laboratory of Aging and Nervous Diseases, Soochow University School of Medicine, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Zheng-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.affiliation: The First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215006, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xie