Effect and mechanism of atorvastatin on cellular inflammatory response induced by calcium oxalate crystals / 中华泌尿外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect and mechanism of atorvastatin (ATV) on the inflammatory response of human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2 cells) induced by calcium oxalate crystals.Methods HK-2 cells were divided into control group (normal medium),ATV group (after 3 h pretreatment with 40 μmol/L ATV,replaced with normal medium),calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group (4 mmol/L calcium oxalate crystal) and ATV treatment group (after 3 h pretreatment with 40 μmol/L ATV,replaced with 4 mmol/L calcium oxalate crystals).After 12 h,the cells were collected,and the expression levels of NLRP3 and Cleaved caspase-1 were detected by immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting.The expression level of NF-κB was detected by immunofluorescence and Western blotting.The cell culture supernatant was collected to detecte the concentrations of interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) and intedeukin-18 (IL-18) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results Western blot analysis showed that the relative expression of NLRP3 (0.125 ±0.013 vs.0.135 ±0.007) and Cleaved caspase-1 (0.090 ±0.014 vs.0.095±0.006) was decreased in the ATV group compared with the control group,but the difference was not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).The relative expression of NLRP3 (0.315 ±0.021 vs.0.135 ± 0.007,P ＜ 0.001) and Cleaved caspase-1 (0.235 ± 0.008 vs.0.095 ± 0.006,P ＜0.001) was significantly increased in the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group compared with the control group.While the relative expression of NLRP3 (0.245 ±0.007 vs.0.315 ±0.021,P ＜0.05) and Cleaved caspase-1 (0.170 ±0.017 vs.0.235 ±0.008,P ＜0.05) in the ATV treatment group was significantly lower than that in the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group.The results of immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression trends of NLRP3 and Cleaved caspase-1 in each group were consistent with those obtained by Western blotting.The ELISA results showed that the concentration of inflammatory factors IL-1 β [(162.00±21.21)pg/ml vs.(183.50±7.78) pg/ml,P＞0.05] and IL-18 [(176.50±24.12)pg/ml vs.(182.50 ± 20.51) pg/ml,P ＞ 0.05] in the ATV group was lower than that in the control group,but the difference were not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).The concentrations of IL-1β [(850.50 ± 48.79)pg/ml vs.(183.50 ± 7.78) pg/ml,P ＜ 0.001] and IL-18 [(526.00 ± 39.61) pg/ml vs.(182.50 ±20.51)pg/ml,P ＜0.001] were significantly increased in the cell culture medium of the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group compared with the control group,while the concentrations of IL-1 β [(452.50 ±36.06)pg/ml vs.(850.50±48.79) pg/ml,P＜0.01] and IL-18 [(403.50 ±23.33)pg/ml vs.(526.00 ±39.61)pg/ml,P ＜0.05] was significantly reduced in the cell culture medium of the ATV treatment group compared with the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group.Western blot analysis showed that the relative expression of NF-κB (0.105 ±0.021 vs.0.100 ±0.014) in the ATV group was decreased compared with the control group,but the difference was not statistically significant (P ＞ 0.05).The relative expression of NF-κB (0.295 ±0.035 vs.0.100 ±0.014,P ＜0.001) in the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group was significantly increased compared with the control group.While the relative expression of NF-κB (0.160 ± 0.012 vs.0.295 ± 0.035,P ＜ 0.05) in the ATV treatment group was significantly lower than that in the calcium oxalate crystal stimulation group.The expression of NF-κB by immunofluorescence staining was consistent with the results of Western blotting.Conclusions Calcium oxalate crystals can induce the inflammatory response of HK-2 cells,while ATV can exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and decreasing the secretion of inflammatory factors IL-1β,IL-18 and the expression of NF-κB.