Protective Effects of Luteolin on Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Acute Renal Injury in Mice

BACKGROUND: Sepsis can cause serious acute kidney injury in bacterium-infected patients, especially in intensive care patients. Luteolin, a bioactive flavonoid, has renal protection and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to investigate the effect and underlying mechanism of luteolin in attenuating lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced renal injury. MATERIAL/METHODS: ICR mice were treated with LPS (25 mg/kg) with or without luteolin pre-treatment (40 mg/kg for three days). The renal function, histological changes, degree of oxidative stress, and tubular apoptosis in these mice were examined. The effects of luteolin on LPS-induced expression of renal tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), NF-κB, MCP-1, ICAM-1, and cleaved caspase-3 were evaluated. RESULTS: LPS resulted in rapid renal damage of mice, increased level of blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and serum creatinine (Scr), tubular necrosis, and increased oxidative stress, whereas luteolin pre-treatment could attenuate this renal damage and improve the renal functions significantly. Treatment with LPS increased TNF-α, NF-κB, IL-1β, cleaved caspase-3, MCP-1, and ICAM-1 expression, while these disturbed expressions were reversed by luteolin pre-treatment. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that luteolin ameliorates LPS-mediated nephrotoxicity via improving renal oxidant status, decreasing NF-κB activation and inflammatory and apoptosis factors, and then disturbing the expression of apoptosis-related proteins.