Acute Kidney Injury-Associated Systemic Inflammation Is Aggravated in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

BACKGROUND: Acute kidney injury (AKI) significantly worsens the prognosis of hospitalized patients. Diabetes mellitus (DM) affects a growing number of individuals in the western world. DM subjects are at a higher risk for acquiring AKI during the stay at the hospital. The current study intended to quantify serum levels of specific immunomodulatory cytokines in diabetic mice suffering from AKI. METHODS: DM was induced in male C57/Bl6N mice by systemic injections of beta cell-toxic streptozotocin. Animals underwent bilateral renal ischemia (45 min) 6 weeks later. RESULTS: Post-ischemic diabetic mice showed significantly differing serum concentrations of the majority of all analytes as compared to untreated controls and non-diabetic (post-ischemic) animals. CONCLUSIONS: Together, our data suggest DM-associated immune activation in AKI. One may suppose that inadequate stimulation of the humoral/cellular immune response potentially contributes to the higher ischemia susceptibility of the organ in DM.