Rho Kinase Inhibitor, Fasudil, Attenuates Contrast‐induced Acute Kidney Injury

Abstract

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that fasudil, a Rho kinase inhibitor, would protect against contrast-induced acute kidney injury (CI-AKI) in a mouse model and attempted to elucidate the mechanism involved. Mice subjected to unilateral ligation of the left anterior renal pedicle were divided into four groups: (1) control group, (2) CI-AKI induced by contrast media (CM group), (3) CI-AKI plus low-dose fasudil (LD group) and (4) CI-AKI plus high-dose fasudil (HD group). Animals from groups 2-4 received iodixanol (4.0 g iodine/kg), and the control group received saline. At 12, 2 hr before iodixanol injection and 4 hr after iodixanol administration, the animals in groups 3-4 received 3 or 10 mg/kg fasudil, respectively. Renal blood flow, renal function parameters, kidney histology and the expression of proteins that regulates apoptosis and inflammation were determined 24 hr later. Fasudil treatment notably ameliorated contrast medium-induced medullary damage, restored renal function, suppressed renal tubular apoptosis, ameliorated redox imbalance and DNA damage. Fasudil had a nephroprotective effect that was partially attributed to its anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic and antioxidant effects of inhibiting the Rho/ROCK pathway.