Promotion of Renal Tubular Regeneration by Follistatin

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In the present study, we investigated the involvement of the activin-follistatin system in the regeneration of renal tubular cells after ischemia-reperfusion in rats. After ishcemia- reperfusion, the expression of the bA subunit of activin was markedly up-regulated. Histologically, immunoreactivity of activin A was increased in renal tubular cells after ischemia-reperfusion. In contrast, the expression of follistatin, an activin antagonist, was markedky reduced after ischemia-reperfusion. These results suggest that the effect of activin A becomes dominant after ischemia-reperfusion. To examine the role of activin A in this process, we administered follistatin immediately after reperfusion. Follistatin significantly improved histological derangements induced by ischemia-reperfusion. Thus, bleeding, monocytic infiltration and cast formation were markedly reduced by follistatin. Furthermore, the number of apoptotic cells was markedly reduced by follistatin. In addition, follistatin greatly incresed the number of BrdU-positive cells in renal tubule. In accoradance with these results, the serum BUN and creatinine levels were significantly reduced by the adminstartion of follistatin. These results indicate that activin A plays a critical role in the renal dysfunction after ischemia-reperfusion and adminstration of follistatin is effective in both reduction of tubular damages and promotion of tubular cell regeneration.