Does urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin really solve the issue of discriminating prerenal from intrinsic acute kidney injury?

The role of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 in acute kidney injury of septic mice

Background

This experiment aimed to investigate the role and mechanism of lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) in kidney injury in septic mice induced by cecal ligation and perforation (CLP).

Methods

Male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into two groups: sham-operation group (Sham group) and septic group (CLP group). The septic model was simulated by cecal ligation and puncture method, but only cecal ligation was used for the sham operation group. The whole serum and renal tissue samples of the mice were collected 24 hours after modeling in both groups. Hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining was used to observe the pathological changes of renal tissue, the renal injury score was recorded, and the creatinine (Cr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels were detected by automatic biochemical analyzer, while the serum Lp-PLA2 level was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The 7-day survival rate and the survival curve of the two groups were statistically analyzed.

Results

Compared with the Sham group, the pathological score of renal injury in the CLP Group was higher, the level of Lp-PLA2 in serum was significantly increased (all P<0.01), and the expression of Lp-PLA2 in renal tissue was significantly elevated (all P<0.01). Furthermore, the 7-day survival rate of the Sham group was 90%, while that of CLP group was 25%.

Conclusions

The expression level of Lp-PLA2 in blood and kidney tissue of septic mice was increased and correlated with prognosis. However, the predictive value of Lp-PLA2 for prognosis in septic mice needs further study.