The interactions of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum with metallothionein and glutathione in rat liver and kidney

Abstract

The involvement of metallothionein (MT) in the nephrotoxicity of cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (c-DDP) was investigated in rats using enzyme excretion and histology as indicators of renal damage. In addition, the effects of renal glutathione (GSH) depletion on the nephrotoxicity of c-DDP was assessed by organic anion transport in renal cortical slices. A dose of 6.0 mg c-DDP/kg body wt, i.p. was administered to rats either as a single injection of 6.0 mg/kg or as six daily injection of 1.0 mg/kg. Concentrations of platinum (Pt) after c-DDP injection in both dosing regimens were approximately 12 μ/g in kidney and 2 μ/g in liver. However, there were no increases in either hepatic or renal concentrations of MT after both series of c-DDP injections. Fractionation of kidney cytosols from c-DDP injected rats on Sephadex G-75 columns revealed that 60–70% of cytosolic Pt was associated with proteins of high molecular weight and 15–20% of the Pt associated with the low molecular weight ligands. No discernable Pt peak was detected in the elution volume of MT. Pretreatment of rats with ZnSO 4 increased both hepatic and renal concentrations of MT, but there was no Pt associated with the MT fraction after a subsequent injection of c-DDP. Small increases in the urinary excretion of the lysosomal enzyme, N- acetyl-β- D- glucosaminidase and two brush border enzymes, alkaline phosphatase and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase were observed 2 and 3 days after a single injection of c-DDP (6.0 mg/kg body wt, i.p.). Urinary creatinine excretion decreased by 50% 1 day after c-DDP injection and continued to decrease for the next 2 days. On the third day after c-DDP treatment, a small but significant decrease in body weight was also observed in the c-DDP injected animals. Pretreatment with Zn did not alter the c-DDP induced enzymuria or renal tubular damage but slightly attenuated both the decrease in creatinine excretion and the loss in body weight. Uptake of the organic anion, p-aminohippuric acid (PAH) was reduced at 12 and 24 h after c-DDP injection. Reduction of tissue GSH concentrations by pretreatment with buthionine sulfoxime (BSO), resulted in only a slight increase in the c-DDP-induced inhibition of PAH uptake at 24 h after c-DDP injection.