ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Paraquat (PQ) is an effective herbicide and is widely used in agricultural production, but PQ poisoning is frequently seen in humans with the lung as the target organ. Currently, there are many studies on lung injury after PQ poisoning. But the kidney as the main excretory organ after PQ poisoning is rarely studied and the mechanisms of this poisoning is not very clear. In this study, we observed the expression of caspase-3 and livin protein in rat renal tissue after PQ poisoning as well as the therapeutic effects of ulinastatin. METHODS: Fifty-four Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three experimental groups: control group (group A), paraquat poisoning group (group B) and ulinastatin group (group C), with 18 rats in each group. Rats in group B and group C were administered intragastrically with 80 mg/kg PQ, rats in group C were injected peritoneally with 100000 U/kg ulinastatin once a day, while rats in group A were administered intragastrically with the same volume of saline as PQ. At 24, 48, 72 hours after poisoning, the expression of livin in renal tissue was detected by Westen blotting, the expression of caspase-3 was detected by immunohistochemistry, and the rate of renal cell apoptosis was tested by TUNEL detection. The histopathological changes were observed at the same time. RESULTS: Compared to group A, the expression of caspase-3 in the renal tissue of rats in groups B and C increased significantly at any time point. Compared with group B, the expression of caspase-3 in renal tissue of rats in group C decreased. Compared with group A, the expression of livin in renal tissue in rats of groups B and C increased significantly at any time point (P<0.01), especially in group C (P<0.01). TUNEL method showed that the rate of renal cell apoptosis index was higher in group B at corresponding time points than in group A (P<0.01), and was lower in group C at corresponding time points than in group B (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: UTI has a protective effect on the renal tissue of rats after paraquat poisoning through up-regulating the expression of livin and down-regulating the expression of caspase-3, but the regulation path still needs a further research.