doi:10.1369/jhc.6A6936.2006
Volume 54 (8): 923-932, 2006 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Protective Role of Polyphenols in Cyclosporine A-induced Nephrotoxicity During Rat Pregnancy
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology, Division of Human Anatomy, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy (RR,LFR,ST,FB,RB); Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovak Republic (OP,SK); and Pharmacologie et Physico-Chimie des Interactions Cellulaires et Moléculaires, Faculté de Pharmacie, Université Louis Pasteur de Strasbourg, Illkirch, France (RA) Correspondence to: Prof. Rita Rezzani, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology, Division of Human Anatomy, University of Brescia, 25123, Brescia, Italy. E-mail: rezzani{at}med.unibs.it
The aim of this study was to evaluate the adverse effects of cyclosporine A (CsA) toward renal morphogenesis and to test the renoprotective natural antioxidants such as provinol (PV). Pregnant rats were divided into four groups. Group I was injected SC with olive oil. Group II was treated with oral administration of PV and was used as control. Group III animals were injected SC daily with CsA, and group IV animals were injected daily with CsA and PV for 21 days of pregnancy. Five pups per litter were killed and the kidneys removed and treated by morphological and immunohistochemical (IHC) methods. IHC analysis considered two proteins responsible for nephrotoxicity in adult rats: inducible nitric oxide (iNOS) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP2). Pregnancy outcomes among CsA-treated rats demonstrated a reduced number of pups. Pups that were exposed antenatally to CsA presented several pathologic findings in all immature parenchyma and an increase in iNOS and MMP2 expression. These side effects were not observed in kidney of litters born from CsA + PV-treated mothers. Our study indicates that CsA induces morphological alterations in renal parenchyma of neonates and that PV plays a protective role against these side effects. (J Histochem Cytochem 54:923932, 2006)
Key Words: cyclosporine A polyphenols kidney pregnancy
FOR NEARLY THREE DECADES cyclosporine A (CsA) has been demonstrated to be a powerful immunosuppressive agent commonly used for organ transplantation and treatment of various autoimmune diseases (Ponticelli 2005
However, experience regarding CsA use in human pregnancy is limited, and no final conclusion may be drawn with regard to the harmlessness or other effects of the drug. Experimental studies have instead resulted in further concern and suggested that (a) in rat, CsA induces fetal growth retardation in organ morphogenesis (Rezzani et al. 1997
The main aims of the current study were to better address morphological alterations in renal morphogenesis of the litters from CsA-treated mothers and also the possible protective role of antioxidants such as polyphenols against these negative effects. To help to address these questions we studied the activity and expression of two proteins responsible for CsA nephrotoxicity in adult rats: inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS, NOS2) (Rezzani et al. 2003
In particular, polyphenols are common constituents of the human diet present in most foods and beverages of plant origin (Manach et al. 2005 To our knowledge, there are no data regarding the protective role of PV against adverse renal effects on litters from CsA-treated mothers. In our study, we sought also to demonstrate that PV is a useful antioxidant in the hope that this could provide clues regarding the development of therapeutic strategies during pregnancy and immunosuppressive treatment.
Animals and Experimental Treatments Protocols were approved by the Italian Ministry of Health and complied with "Guiding Principles in the Use of Animals in Toxicology."
Ninety-day-old virgin female and male Wistar rats weighing 250300 g were used. Animals were housed in cages under controlled temperature with a 12-hr light/12-hr dark schedule and access to food and water ad libitum. Female animals were checked every morning, and when pregnancy was assumed with a vaginal plug (Rezzani et al. 1997 The end of treatments corresponded to spontaneous delivery for all groups; pups were weighed within 2 or 3 hr after birth. Five pups per litter were randomly chosen and killed using terminal ether anesthesia. Kidneys were removed and washed briefly in phosphate buffer (0.1 M, pH 7.4). A median slice was quickly cut from each organ (parallel to the short axis of the kidney). One slice was frozen at 20C, another was quickly frozen and powdered in liquid nitrogen, and the remaining slice was immediately fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde prior to embedding in paraffin wax according to standard procedures.
Morphological and Immunohistochemical Analysis Before IHC analysis, sections were deparaffinized, rehydrated, and then immersed in 3% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in methanol for 30 min to block endogenous peroxidase activity. Sections were incubated for 1 hr at room temperature in normal goat serum for iNOS and in normal rabbit serum for MMP2 (diluted 1:5; Dakopatts, Milan, Italy) and serially treated with rabbit polyclonal antibody anti-iNOS and goat polyclonal antibody anti-MMP2 (diluted 1:100; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) at 4C overnight. Successively, sections were washed in TBS 0.1 M, pH 7.4, and then incubated with a biotinylated secondary antibody (goat anti-rabbit for iNOS and rabbit anti-goat for MMP2, diluted 1:50; Dakopatts) for 60 min and then with the avidinbiotin horseradish peroxidase complex (ABC kit; Dakopatts) for an additional 1 hr. Sections were then immersed in a solution of 0.05% 3,3-diamino-benzidine tetrahydrochloride (DAB) and 0.03% H2O2. Finally, sections were counterstained with hematoxylin, dehydrated, and mounted. Control reactions were performed in the absence of primary antibody and in the presence of isotype-matched IgGs.
Stereological Analysis for Glomerular Volume and Size
For glomerular size (GS), ten randomly selected fields with a known area (0.15 mm2/field) were analyzed for each section (five sections and five animals per group) by a blinded observer. Size of the glomeruli were calculated in the selected fields according to Lucas et al. (1997)
Quantitative Analysis of Swollen Tubules
Quantitative iNOS and MMP2 Analysis
Immunoblotting Analysis for iNOS and MMP2 Proteins These were detected using secondary biotinylated anti-rabbit secondary antibody (Dakopatts) for iNOS and a biotinylated goat anti-mouse secondary antibody for MMP2 (Dakopatts) as appropriate and an avidinperoxidase complex according to the manufacturer's instructions (ABC kit; Dakopatts) with a solution of 0.05% DAB (3,3-diamino-benzedine tetrahydrochloride) and 0.03% hydrogen peroxide. Bands were evaluated with an image analyzer (Image Pro Plus) and statistically analyzed.
MMP2 Zymographic Analysis
Statistical Analysis
Pregnancy Outcomes and Pup Mass among Control, CsA-, and CsA + PV-treated Rats Data on pregnancy outcomes and on body weight of pups are reported in Table 1 . Gestation lasts 21 days in rats, and CsA treatment had no adverse effects on the duration of gestation. Most CsA-treated mothers showed a significant decrease in maternal weight in comparison with the control in relation to the number of pups per litter that was statistically reduced. No difference in body weight among pups in the control and CsA groups was observed. Moreover, there was no difference in body weight between litters from CsA + PV-treated mothers and those from control group.
Renal Morphological Features of Pups Born to CsA-treated Mothers Neonatal kidneys from CsA-treated mothers displayed several pathologic findings in all immature parenchyma. As shown in Figure 1A , the cortex showed a disorganization in the nephrogenic zones; signs of tubular and glomerular alterations were evident. At high magnification, distal tubules were not clearly evident in the nephrogenic zones, whereas there was a number of lymphocytic infiltrates (Figure 1B). Moreover, size of the apparently unaltered glomeruli was considerably reduced.
Tubulopathy was observed in most proximal tubules; cellular lesions such as tubular swelling were also evident (Figure 2A ). In particular, statistical analysis of tubular swelling is reported in Table 2 .
Several glomeruli were damaged, and glomerular sclerosis such as tuft adhesion to Bowman's capsule and prominent urinary chamber were present (Figure 2B). Signs of lesions were also observed in the medulla because the lumen of Henle loops was enlarged.
Renal Morphological Features of Pups Born to Control and CsA + PV-treated Rats
Estimation of VWGV and GS among Pups from Control, CsA-, and CsA + PV-treated Mothers GS was significantly decreased in pups born from CsA-treated mothers (100 ± 5) with respect to control and CsA + PV-treated rats (178 ± 2 and 173 ± 3, respectively). Both VWGV and GS analysis are reported in Table 3 .
Expression and Activity of iNOS and MMP2 in Kidneys of Litters from CsA-treated Mothers iNOS and MMP2 immunostaining showed a similar positivity in renal cortex and medulla. As shown in Figure 3A , iNOS immunostaining displayed moderate and diffuse positivity in epithelial cells of proximal tubules and a strong positivity in glomeruli and in nephrogenic areas. In these zones it was difficult to distinguish distal tubules. The Henle loops also showed an increase in iNOS and MMP2 positivity that was localized mainly in epithelial cells near the lumen (Figures 4A and 4B). Figure 5 shows quantitative IHC and immunoblotting analysis for iNOS and MMP2. Moreover, Figure 6 shows zymographic analysis for MMP2.
Expression and Activity of iNOS and MMP2 in Kidneys of Pups Born to Control and CsA + PV-treated Rats In renal cortex, proximal tubules showed very weak positivity, whereas distal tubules and glomeruli were negative (Figures 3B and 3C); in the medulla, the Henle loops and vasa recta were weakly positive (Figures 4C and 4D) as in CsA + PV-treated rats (Figures 4E and 4F). In these structures, staining appeared diffuse in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells. iNOS and MMP2 quantitative IHC and immunoblotting results are shown in Figure 5. MMP2 zymographic analysis was reported in Figure 6.
Our results provide evidence that CsA has deleterious effects on renal organogenesis of litters from treated mothers and that CsA + PV treatment prevents these adverse effects.
Negative effects such as prominent glomerular urinary chambers, tubular swelling, interstitial fibrosis, and inflammation are the same characteristics observed in rat kidney exposed to drug treatment (Rezzani 2004
These data agree with our report and other previous reports indicating that this drug and its metabolites interfere with fetal development (Bermas and Hill 1995
Moreover, we considered the activity and expression of two proteins (iNOS and MMP2) as playing an important role in nephrotoxicity (Eberhardt et al. 2000
We previously showed that CsA induces an increase in the expression of different factors such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-
The second subject of this study addresses the possible protective role of PV against nephrotoxicity. We showed that CsA + PV treatment is protective against toxic CsA effects in kidney of litters from treated mothers both on cytoarchitecture and on iNOS and MMP2 expression. Recent studies showed that PV is able to counteract CsA-induced negative effects involving the above-reported proteins (Buffoli et al. 2005 In conclusion, our study shows the presence of morphological alterations in renal parenchyma of litters from CsA-treated mothers and the protective role played by PV. These data could be of particular relevance in relation to development of therapeutic strategies during pregnancy and immunosuppressive treatment.
The authors thank Miss Stefania Castrezzati for technical assistance.
Received for publication January 31, 2006; accepted April 7, 2006
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