Protective effects of sinomenine against doxorubicin-induced nephrosis in rats.

Sinomenine (SN, 1) is a pure compound extracted from the Sinomenium acutum plant. We investigated the protective effects and mechanism of action of SN in a rat model of doxorubicin (DOX)-induced nephrosis. Nephrosis was induced by a single dose of 5 mg/kg DOX, and DOX-treated rats received a daily i.p. injection of 10 or 30 mg/kg SN, or saline (n = 6). Urine and serum biochemical parameters, serum TNF-α and IL-1ß levels, nephrin, podocin, α-actinin-4, and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α (PPAR-α) protein expression, and renal ultrastructure were examined at day 28. Compound 1 significantly attenuated the effect of DOX on urine and serum biochemical parameters. Electron microscopy demonstrated that 1 suppressed DOX-induced increases in foot process width. Compared with those in control rats, nephrin, podocin, and PPAR-α protein expressions decreased in the glomeruli of DOX-treated rats, and this effect was significantly attenuated by 1. However, no appreciable alterations were observed in the expression level of α-actinin-4. DOX significantly increased serum TNF-α and IL-1ß compared with those in control rats, and 1 significantly reduced the serum levels of TNF-α and IL-1ß. SN ameliorates DOX-induced nephrotic syndrome in rats, resulting in a modulation of renal nephrin, podocin expression, and thereby protecting podocytes from injury.

Human urinary metabolomic profile of PPARalpha induced fatty acid beta-oxidation.

Activation of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha (PPARalpha) is associated with increased fatty acid catabolism and is commonly targeted for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. To identify latent, endogenous biomarkers of PPARalpha activation and hence increased fatty acid beta-oxidation, healthy human volunteers were given fenofibrate orally for 2 weeks and their urine was profiled by UPLC-QTOFMS. Biomarkers identified by the machine learning algorithm random forests included significant depletion by day 14 of both pantothenic acid (>5-fold) and acetylcarnitine (>20-fold), observations that are consistent with known targets of PPARalpha including pantothenate kinase and genes encoding proteins involved in the transport and synthesis of acylcarnitines. It was also concluded that serum cholesterol (-12.7%), triglycerides (-25.6%), uric acid (-34.7%), together with urinary propylcarnitine (>10-fold), isobutyrylcarnitine (>2.5-fold), (S)-(+)-2-methylbutyrylcarnitine (5-fold), and isovalerylcarnitine (>5-fold) were all reduced by day 14. Specificity of these biomarkers as indicators of PPARalpha activation was demonstrated using the Ppara-null mouse. Urinary pantothenic acid and acylcarnitines may prove useful indicators of PPARalpha-induced fatty acid beta-oxidation in humans. This study illustrates the utility of a pharmacometabolomic approach to understand drug effects on lipid metabolism in both human populations and in inbred mouse models.