Biomarkers in Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury: Towards A New Perspective.

Contrast-Induced Acute Kidney Injury (CI-AKI) remains a frequent iatrogenic condition since radiological procedures using intra-vascular iodinated contrast media (CM) are being widely administered for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Despite the improvement of the medical healthcare system worldwide, CI-AKI is still associated with direct short-term and indirect long-term outcomes including increased morbidity and mortality, especially in patients with underlying pre-existing renal function impairment, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes that could rapidly progress into Chronic Kidney Disease. Although the RIFLE (Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, End-Stage Kidney Disease), AKIN (Acute Kidney Injury Network), and KDIGO (Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes) clinical criteria and recommendation guidelines are based on traditional "gold standard" biomarkers known as serum creatinine, glomerular filtration rate, and urinary output, new reliable serum and urinary biomarkers are still needed for an effective unified diagnostic strategy for AKI. Starting from previous and recent publications on the benefits and limitations of validated biomarkers responding to kidney injury, glomerular filtration, and inflammation among others, this review unravels the role of new emerging biomarkers used alone or in combination as reliable tools for early diagnosis and prognosis of CI-AKI, taking into account patients and procedures-risk factors towards a new clinical perspective.

Cilastatin as a Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Neuroprotective Treatment in the Management of Glaucoma.

Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that causes blindness. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the protective role of cilastatin (CIL), generally used in the treatment of nephropathologies associated with inflammation, in an experimental mouse model based on unilateral (left) laser-induced ocular hypertension (OHT). Male Swiss mice were administered CIL daily (300 mg/kg, i.p.) two days before OHT surgery until sacrifice 3 or 7 days later. Intraocular Pressure (IOP), as well as retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival, was registered, and the inflammatory responses of macroglial and microglial cells were studied via immunohistochemical techniques. Results from OHT eyes were compared to normotensive contralateral (CONTRA) and naïve control eyes considering nine retinal areas and all retinal layers. OHT successfully increased IOP values in OHT eyes but not in CONTRA eyes; CIL did not affect IOP values. Surgery induced a higher loss of RGCs in OHT eyes than in CONTRA eyes, while CIL attenuated this loss. Similarly, surgery increased macroglial and microglial activation in OHT eyes and to a lesser extent in CONTRA eyes; CIL prevented both macroglial and microglial activation in OHT and CONTRA eyes. Therefore, CIL arises as a potential effective strategy to reduce OHT-associated damage in the retina of experimental mice.

Role of Glucocorticoid Signaling and HDAC4 Activation in Diaphragm and Gastrocnemius Proteolytic Activity in Septic Rats.

Sepsis increases glucocorticoid and decreases IGF-1, leading to skeletal muscle wasting and cachexia. Muscle atrophy mainly takes place in locomotor muscles rather than in respiratory ones. Our study aimed to elucidate the mechanism responsible for this difference in muscle proteolysis, focusing on local inflammation and IGF-1 as well as on their glucocorticoid response and HDAC4-myogenin activation. Sepsis was induced in adult male rats by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) injection (10 mg/kg), and 24 h afterwards, rats were euthanized. LPS increased TNFα and IL-10 expression in both muscles studied, the diaphragm and gastrocnemius, whereas IL-6 and SOCS3 mRNA increased only in diaphragm. In comparison with gastrocnemius, diaphragm showed a lower increase in proteolytic marker expression (atrogin-1 and LC3b) and in LC3b protein lipidation after LPS administration. LPS increased the expression of glucocorticoid induced factors, KLF15 and REDD1, and decreased that of IGF-1 in gastrocnemius but not in the diaphragm. In addition, an increase in HDAC4 and myogenin expression was induced by LPS in gastrocnemius, but not in the diaphragm. In conclusion, the lower activation of both glucocorticoid signaling and HDAC4-myogenin pathways by sepsis can be one of the causes of lower sepsis-induced proteolysis in the diaphragm compared to gastrocnemius.

Lipidomics Reveals Cisplatin-Induced Renal Lipid Alterations during Acute Kidney Injury and Their Attenuation by Cilastatin.

Nephrotoxicity is a major complication of cisplatin-based chemotherapy, leading to acute kidney injury in ca. 30% of patients, with no preventive intervention or treatment available for clinical use. Cilastatin has proved to exert a nephroprotective effect for cisplatin therapies in in vitro and in vivo models, having recently entered clinical trials. A deeper understanding at the molecular level of cisplatin-induced renal damage and the effect of potential protective agents could be key to develop successful nephroprotective therapies and to establish new biomarkers of renal damage and nephroprotection. A targeted lipidomics approach, using LC-MS/MS, was employed for the quantification of 108 lipid species (comprising phospholipids, sphingolipids, and free and esterified cholesterol) in kidney cortex and medulla extracts from rats treated with cisplatin and/or cilastatin. Up to 56 and 63 lipid species were found to be altered in the cortex and medulla, respectively, after cisplatin treatment. Co-treatment with cilastatin attenuated many of these lipid changes, either totally or partially with respect to control levels. Multivariate analysis revealed that lipid species can be used to discriminate renal damage and nephroprotection, with cholesterol esters being the most discriminating species, along with sulfatides and phospholipids. Potential diagnostic biomarkers of cisplatin-induced renal damage and cilastatin nephroprotection were also found.

Effect of Cilastatin on Cisplatin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Patients Undergoing Hyperthermic Intraperitoneal Chemotherapy.

Cisplatin is one of the most widely used chemotherapeutic agents in oncology, although its nephrotoxicity limits application and dosage. We present the results of a clinical study on prophylaxis of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis undergoing cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal intraoperative chemotherapy (HIPEC-cisplatin). Prophylaxis was with imipenem/cilastatin. Cilastatin is a selective inhibitor of renal dehydropeptidase I in the proximal renal tubule cells that can reduce the nephrotoxicity of cisplatin. Unfortunately, cilastatin is not currently marketed alone, and can only be administered in combination with imipenem. The study has a retrospective part that serves as a control (n = 99 patients receiving standard surgical prophylaxis) and a prospective part with imipenem/cilastatin prophylaxis corresponding to the study group (n = 85 patients). In both groups, we collected specific data on preoperative risk factors of renal damage, fluid management, hemodynamic control, and urine volume during surgery (including the hyperthermic chemotherapy perfusion), as well as data on hemodynamic and renal function during the first seven days after surgery. The main finding of the study is that cilastatin may exert a nephroprotective effect in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis undergoing cytoreduction and hyperthermic intraperitoneal cisplatin perfusion. Creatinine values remained lower than in the control group (ANOVA test, p = 0.037). This translates into easier management of these patients in the postoperative period, with significantly shorter intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital stay.

Urinary excretion of parathyroid hormone-related protein correlates with renal function in control rats and rats with cisplatin nephrotoxicity.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) and its receptor are abundantly expressed throughout the renal parenchyma, where PTHrP exerts a modulatory action on renal function. PTHrP upregulation is a common event associated with the mechanism of renal injury and repair. However, no study has yet explored the putative excretion of PTHrP in urine, including its potential relationship with renal function. In the present study, we tested this hypothesis by studying the well-known rat model of acute renal injury induced by the chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin. Using Western blot analysis, we could detect a single protein band, corresponding to intact PTHrP, in the urine of both control and cisplatin-injected rats, whose levels were significantly higher in the latter group. PTHrP was detected in rat urine by dot blot, and its quantification with two specific ELISA kits showed that, compared with control rats, those treated with cisplatin displayed a significant increase in urinary PTHrP (expressed as the PTHrP-to-creatinine ratio or 24-h excretion). In addition, a positive correlation between urinary PTHrP excretion and serum creatinine was found in these animals. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that PTHrP is excreted in rat urine and that this excretion is higher with the decrease of renal function. This suggests that urinary PTHrP levels might be a renal function marker.

Lipid imaging for visualizing cilastatin amelioration of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity.

Nephrotoxicity is a major limitation to cisplatin antitumor therapies. Cilastatin, an inhibitor of renal dehydropeptidase-I, was recently proposed as a promising nephroprotector against cisplatin toxicity, preventing apoptotic cell death. In this work, cilastatin nephroprotection was further investigated in a rat model, with a focus on its effect on 76 renal lipids altered by cisplatin, including 13 new cisplatin-altered mitochondrial cardiolipin species. Lipid imaging was performed with MALDI mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) in kidney sections from treated rats. Cilastatin was proved to significantly diminish the lipid distribution alterations caused by cisplatin, lipid levels being almost completely recovered to those of control samples. The extent of recovery of cisplatin-altered lipids by cilastatin turned out to be relevant for discriminating direct or secondary lipid alterations driven by cisplatin. Lipid peroxidation induced by cisplatin was also shown to be reduced when cilastatin was administered. Importantly, significant groups separation was achieved during multivariate analysis of cortex and outer-medullary lipids, indicating that damaged kidney can be discerned from the nephroprotected and healthy groups and classified according to lipid distribution. Therefore, we propose MALDI-MSI as a powerful potential tool offering multimolecule detection possibilities to visualize and evaluate nephrotoxicity and nephroprotection based on lipid analysis.

Efficacy, Biodistribution, and Nephrotoxicity of Experimental Amphotericin B-Deoxycholate Formulations for Pulmonary Aspergillosis.

An experimental micellar formulation of 1:1.5 amphotericin B-sodium deoxycholate (AMB:DCH 1:1.5) was obtained and characterized to determine its aggregation state and particle size. The biodistribution, nephrotoxicity, and efficacy against pulmonary aspergillosis in a murine model were studied and compared to the liposomal commercial formulation of amphotericin B after intravenous administration. The administration of 5 mg/kg AMB:DCH 1:1.5 presented 2.8-fold-higher lung concentrations (18.125 ± 3.985 µg/g after 6 daily doses) and lower kidney exposure (0.391 ± 0.167 µg/g) than liposomal commercial amphotericin B (6.567 ± 1.536 and 5.374 ± 1.157 µg/g in lungs and kidneys, respectively). The different biodistribution of AMB:DCH micelle systems compared to liposomal commercial amphotericin B was attributed to their different morphologies and particle sizes. The efficacy study has shown that both drugs administered at 5 mg/kg produced similar survival percentages and reductions of fungal burden. A slightly lower nephrotoxicity, associated with amphotericin B, was observed with AMB:DCH 1:1.5 than the one induced by the liposomal commercial formulation. However, AMB:DCH 1:1.5 reached higher AMB concentrations in lungs, which could represent a therapeutic advantage over liposomal commercial amphotericin B-based treatment of pulmonary aspergillosis. These results are encouraging to explore the usefulness of AMB:DCH 1:1.5 against this disease.

Dual Internal Standards with Metals and Molecules for MALDI Imaging of Kidney Lipids.

The quest for internal standards useful in MALDI imaging studies goes on to get not only lateral distribution but also reliable relative quantitative information. We developed a method based on application of matrix and dual internal standards to allow intra- and intersample normalization of lipids intensities in kidney sections of control and cisplatin-treated Wistar rats. An inkjet printer was used to deposit a custom-prepared ink with DHB as MALDI matrix, a primary lipids-based internal standard, and a spiked lanthanide as a secondary internal standard. We applied different laser energy and varied the amounts of matrix-internal standards mixture to evaluate the normalization potential of the internal standards. Successful correction of intensity artifacts caused by instrumental drifts was possible, but not those resulting from uneven matrix application. ICP-MS absolute quantification of the lanthanide in the printed layer ensured the reproducibility of the matrix and internal standards application with RSD of 10-15%. Internal standard-normalized data allowed intrasample modification of the MALDI image to make it compatible with the optical image. Normalization to internal standards corrected a 2-fold difference in lipids intensity, which allowed a meaningful comparison of tissue lipids in control and cisplatin-treated kidneys. More importantly, normalization of lipid relative abundances based on the same adduct type (H+, Na+, and K+) for analyte and internal standard corrected for different ionization efficiencies showing a realistic signal level and enabling reliable comparison of different samples on relative quantitative basis.

Synthesis, Polymerization, and Assembly of Nanosilica Particles below the Isoelectric Point.

The particle growth of silica below the isoelectric point plays a key role in oil well cements, production of silica gels and production of nanosilica by dissolving silicates. In this article, we study the particle growth of silica below the isoelectric point using olivine, a silicate mineral, and sodium silicate solutions as silica sources in acid, where the particle size, soluble silica concentration, specific surface area and gelling time were measured. The size of the primary particles detected by laser light scattering is 3 nm in the experiments with sodium silicate solutions. These particles grow then by aggregation forming linear chains which in time will start to branch. The particle growth follows a quadratic polynomial function and particles as large as 100 and 500 nm are detected in the final stages of experiments using sodium silica solutions and olivine, respectively. Based on these findings, a comprehensive model describing the silica particle development below the isoelectric point is proposed. This model gives fundamental information about the growth mechanism and the properties of silica (e.g., particle size of the primary particles, size of the aggregates) at the different growth stages.

Cisplatin-induced renal inflammation is ameliorated by cilastatin nephroprotection.

BACKGROUND: Cisplatin is a potent chemotherapeutic drug whose nephrotoxic effect is a major complication and a dose-limiting factor for antitumoral therapy. There is much evidence that inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. We found that cilastatin, a renal dehydropeptidase-I inhibitor, has protective effects in vitro and in vivo against cisplatin-induced renal damage by inhibiting apoptosis and oxidation. Here, we investigated the potential use of cilastatin to protect against cisplatin-induced kidney injury and inflammation in rats. METHODS: Male Wistar rats were divided into four groups: control, cilastatin-control, cisplatin and cilastatin-cisplatin. Nephrotoxicity was assessed 5 days after administration of cisplatin based on blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, glomerular filtration rate (GFR), kidney injury molecule (KIM)-1 and renal morphology. Inflammation was measured using the electrophoretic mobility shift assay, immunohistochemical studies and evaluation of inflammatory mediators. RESULTS: Compared with the control rats, cisplatin-administered rats were affected by significant proximal tubule damage, decreased GFR, increased production of inflammatory mediators and elevations in urea, creatinine and tissue KIM-1 levels. Cilastatin prevented these changes in renal function and ameliorated histological damage in cisplatin-administered animals. Cilastatin also reduced pro-inflammatory cytokine levels, activation of nuclear factor-κB and CD68-positive cell concentrations. CONCLUSIONS: Cilastatin reduces cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity, which is associated with decreased inflammation in vivo. Although the exact role of decreased inflammation in nephroprotection has not been fully elucidated, treatment with cilastatin could be a novel strategy for the prevention of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury.

Printing metal-spiked inks for LA-ICP-MS bioimaging internal standardization: comparison of the different nephrotoxic behavior of cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin.

The study of the distribution of the cytostatic drugs cisplatin, carboplatin, and oxaliplatin along the kidney may help to understand their different nephrotoxic behavior. Laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) allows the acquisition of trace element images in biological tissues. However, results obtained are affected by several variations concerning the sample matrix and instrumental drifts. In this work, an internal standardization method based on printing an Ir-spiked ink onto the surface of the sample has been developed to evaluate the different distributions and accumulation levels of the aforementioned drugs along the kidney of a rat model. A conventional ink-jet printer was used to print fresh sagittal kidney tissue slices of 4 µm. A reproducible and homogenous deposition of the ink along the tissue was observed. The ink was partially absorbed on top of the tissue. Thus, this approach provides a pseudo-internal standardization, due to the fact that the ablation sample and internal standard take place subsequently and not simultaneously. A satisfactory normalization of LA-ICP-MS bioimages and therefore a reliable comparison of the kidney treated with different Pt-based drugs were achieved even for tissues analyzed on different days. Due to the complete ablation of the sample, the transport of the ablated internal standard and tissue to the inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is practically taking place at the same time. Pt accumulation in the kidney was observed in accordance to the dosages administered for each drug. Although the accumulation rate of cisplatin and oxaliplatin is high in both cases, their Pt distributions differ. The strong nephrotoxicity observed for cisplatin and the absence of such side effect in the case of oxaliplatin could explain these distribution differences. The homogeneous distribution of oxaliplatin in the cortical and medullar areas could be related with its higher affinity for cellular transporters such as MATE2-k.

Tubular biomarkers and histology in lupus nephritis.

INTRODUCTION: The relevance of tubulo-interstitial involvement for kidney prognosis has recently been emphasized, but validated biomarkers for predicting histology are still lacking. The aim of our study was to evaluate different serum and urinary markers of tubular damage in patients with lupus nephritis (LN) and to correlate them with kidney histopathology. METHODS: A single-center retrospective study was conducted from January 2016 to December 2021. Serum and urine samples were collected on the same day of kidney biopsy and correlated with histologic data from a cohort of 15 LN patients. We analyzed the following urinary markers, adjusted for urine creatinine: beta 2-microglobulin, alpha 1-microglobulin, NGAL, uKIM-1, MCP-1, uDKK-3, and uUMOD. The serum markers sKIM-1 and sUMOD were also analyzed. RESULTS: A positive and strong correlation was observed between the degree of interstitial fibrosis (rho = 0.785, p = .001) and tubular atrophy (rho = 0.781, p = .001) and the levels of uDKK3. uUMOD also showed an inverse and moderate correlation with interstitial fibrosis (rho = -0.562, p = .037) and tubular atrophy (rho = -0.694, p = .006). Patients with >10% cortical interstitial inflammation had higher levels of uKIM-1 [4.9 (3.9, 5.5) vs. 0.8 (0.6, 1.5) mcg/mg, p = .001], MCP-1 [3.8 (2. 3, 4.2) vs. 0.7 (0.3, 1.2) mcg/mg, p = .001], sKIM-1 [9.2 (5.9, 32.7) vs. 1.4 (0, 3.5) pg/mL, p = .001], and lower sUMOD [8.7 (0, 39.7) vs. 46.1 (35.7, 53) ng/mL, p = .028]. CONCLUSION: The use of specific urinary and serum biomarkers of tubular dysfunction or injury may help to predict certain histologic parameters in LN patients.

Tubular biomarkers in proteinuric kidney disease: histology correlation and kidney prognosis of tubular biomarkers.

Background: Proteinuria is not only a biomarker of chronic kidney disease (CKD) but also a driver of CKD progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum and urinary tubular biomarkers in patients with biopsied proteinuric kidney disease and to correlate them with histology and kidney outcomes. Methods: A single-center retrospective study was conducted on a cohort of 156 patients from January 2016 to December 2021. The following urinary and serum biomarkers were analyzed on the day of kidney biopsy: beta 2 microglobulin (ß2-mcg), alpha 1 microglobulin (α1-mcg), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), urinary kidney injury molecule-1 (uKIM-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), urinary Dickkopf-3 (uDKK3), uromodulin (urinary uUMOD), serum kidney injury molecule-1 (sKIM-1) and serum uromodulin (sUMOD). A composite outcome of kidney progression or death was recorded during a median follow-up period of 26 months. Results: Multivariate regression analysis identified sUMOD (ß-0.357, P < .001) and uDKK3 (ß 0.483, P < .001) as independent predictors of interstitial fibrosis, adjusted for age, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and log proteinuria. Elevated levels of MCP-1 [odds ratio 15.61, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.52-69.20] were associated with a higher risk of cortical interstitial inflammation >10% adjusted for eGFR, log proteinuria and microhematuria. Upper tertiles of uDKK3 were associated with greater eGFR decline during follow-up. Although not a predictor of the composite outcome, doubling of uDKK3 was a predictor of kidney events (hazard ratio 2.26, 95% CI 1.04-4.94) after adjustment for interstitial fibrosis, eGFR and proteinuria. Conclusions: Tubular markers may have prognostic value in proteinuric kidney disease, correlating with specific histologic parameters and identifying cases at higher risk of CKD progression.

Trends in hospitalization for urinary tract infection in the paediatric age group in the 2000-2015 period in Spain.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the trends in hospital admissions related to urinary tract infection among children aged 0-14 years in Spain in the 2000-2015 period. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study using the minimum basic hospital discharge dataset system of Spain, which applies the International Classification of Diseases, version 9 (ICD-9) coding system. We included every hospitalisation due to cystitis, pyelonephritis and unspecified UTI among children aged less than 15 years. We collected data on patient sex and age, type of discharge, main diagnosis, comorbidities, length of stay and overall cost. We calculated crude hospitalization rates per 1000 inhabitants aged less than 15 years and performed a joinpoint regression analysis to identify temporal trends. RESULTS: In the 2000-2015 period, there were 124 696 hospitalizations in children under 15 years. Of these patients, 72.97% were aged 0-1 year and 60.12% had a diagnosis of unspecified UTI, 39.27% of pyelonephritis, and 0.52% of cystitis. The crude rate of hospitalization due to UTI ranged from 1.24 in year 2000 to 0.98 in 2015. The rate of hospitalization was higher in female versus male patients. The joinpoint analysis found a decreasing trend in the rate of hospitalization due to UTI, with an average annual percent change (AAPC) of -1.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], -2.4 a -0.6). The largest decreases occurred in female patients (AAPC, -1.8; 95% CI, -2.5 a -1.0) and children aged 7-10 years (AAPC - 5.9; 95% CI, -6.7 a -5.2). CONCLUSIONS: The rate of hospitalization related to UTI in Spain in patients aged up to 14 years decreased during the 2000-2015 period. The highest hospitalization rates occurred in female patients and in the 0-to-1 year age group.

Novel Experimental Mouse Model to Study Malaria-Associated Acute Kidney Injury.

The impact of malaria-associated acute kidney injury (MAKI), one of the strongest predictors of death in children with severe malaria (SM), has been largely underestimated and research in this area has been neglected. Consequently, a standard experimental mouse model to research this pathology is still lacking. The purpose of this study was to develop an in vivo model that resembles the pathology in MAKI patients. In this study, unilateral nephrectomies were performed on wild-type mice prior to infection with Plasmodium berghei NK65. The removal of one kidney has shown to be an effective approach to replicating the most common findings in humans with MAKI. Infection of nephrectomized mice, compared to their non-nephrectomized counterparts, resulted in the development of kidney injury, evident by histopathological analysis and elevated levels of acute kidney injury (AKI) biomarkers, including urinary neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin, serum Cystatin C, and blood urea nitrogen. Establishment of this in vivo model of MAKI is critical to the scientific community, as it can be used to elucidate the molecular pathways implicated in MAKI, delineate the development of the disease, identify biomarkers for early diagnosis and prognosis, and test potential adjunctive therapies.

Site of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production in skeletal muscle of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and its relationship with exercise oxidative stress.

Exercise triggers skeletal muscle oxidative stress in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The objective of this research was to study the specific sites of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in mitochondria isolated from skeletal muscle of patients with COPD and its relationship with local oxidative stress induced by exercise. Vastus lateralis biopsies were obtained in 16 patients with COPD (66 ± 10 yr; FEV(1), 54 ± 12% ref) and in 14 control subjects with normal lung function who required surgery because of lung cancer (65 ± 7 yr; FEV(1), 91 ± 14% ref) at rest and after exercise. In these biopsies we isolated mitochondria and mitochondrial membrane fragments and determined in vitro mitochondrial oxygen consumption (Mit$$\stackrel{.}{\hbox{ V }}$$o(2)) and ROS production before and after inhibition of complex I (rotenone), complex II (stigmatellin), and complex III (antimycin-A). We related the in vitro ROS production during state 3 respiration), which mostly corresponds to the mitochondria respiratory state during exercise, with skeletal muscle oxidative stress after exercise, as measured by thiobarbituric acid reactive substances.State 3 Mit$$\stackrel{.}{\hbox{ V }}$$o(2) was similar in patients with COPD and control subjects (191 ± 27 versus 229 ± 46 nmol/min/mg; P = 0.058), whereas H(2)O(2) production was higher in the former (147 ± 39 versus 51 ± 8 pmol/mg/h; P < 0.001). The addition of complexI, II, and III inhibitors identify complex III as the main site of H(2)O(2) release by mitochondria in patients with COPD and in control subjects. The mitochondrial production of H(2)O(2) in state 3 respiration was related (r = 0.69; P < 0.001) to postexercise muscle thiobarbituric acid reactive substance levels. Our results show that complex III is the main site of the enhanced mitochondrial H(2)O(2) production that occurs in skeletal muscle of patients with COPD, and the latter appears to contribute to muscle oxidative damage.

Cilastatin protects against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity without compromising its anticancer efficiency in rats.

Cisplatin is an anticancer agent marred by nephrotoxicity; however, limiting this adverse effect may allow the use of higher doses to improve its efficacy. Cilastatin, a small molecule inhibitor of renal dehydropeptidase I, prevents proximal tubular cells from undergoing cisplatin-induced apoptosis in vitro. Here, we explored the in vivo relevance of these findings and the specificity of protection for kidney cells in cisplatin-treated rats. Cisplatin increased serum blood urea nitrogen and creatinine levels, and the fractional excretion of sodium. Cisplatin decreased the glomerular filtration rate, promoted histological renal injury and the expression of many pro-apoptotic proteins in the renal cortex, increased the Bax/Bcl2 ratio, and oxidative stress in kidney tissue and urine. All these features were decreased by cilastatin, which preserved renal function but did not modify the pharmacokinetics of cisplatin area under the curve. The cisplatin-induced death of cervical, colon, breast, and bladder-derived cancer cell lines was not prevented by cilastatin. Thus, cilastatin has the potential to prevent cisplatin nephrotoxicity without compromising its anticancer efficacy.

FKBP51, AmotL2 and IQGAP1 Involvement in Cilastatin Prevention of Cisplatin-Induced Tubular Nephrotoxicity in Rats.

The immunophilin FKBP51, the angiomotin AmotL2, and the scaffoldin IQGAP1 are overexpressed in many types of cancer, with the highest increase in leucocytes from patients undergoing oxaliplatin chemotherapy. Inflammation is involved in the pathogenesis of nephrotoxicity induced by platinum analogs. Cilastatin prevents renal damage caused by cisplatin. This functional and confocal microscopy study shows the renal focal-segmental expression of TNFα after cisplatin administration in rats, predominantly of tubular localization and mostly prevented by co-administration of cilastatin. FKBP51, AmotL2 and IQGAP1 protein expression increases slightly with cilastatin administration and to a much higher extent with cisplatin, in a cellular- and subcellular-specific manner. Kidney tubule cells expressing FKBP51 show either very low or no expression of TNFα, while cells expressing TNFα have low levels of FKBP51. AmotL2 and TNFα seem to colocalize and their expression is increased in tubular cells. IQGAP1 fluorescence increases with cilastatin, cisplatin and joint cilastatin-cisplatin treatment, and does not correlate with TNFα expression or localization. These data suggest a role for FKBP51, AmotL2 and IQGAP1 in cisplatin toxicity in kidney tubules and in the protective effect of cilastatin through inhibition of dehydropeptidase-I.

Immune response and reactogenicity after immunization with two-doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine (CVnCOV) followed by a third-fourth shot with a standard mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2): RescueVacs multicenter cohort study.

Background: There is no evidence to date on immunogenic response among individuals who participated in clinical trials of COVID-19 experimental vaccines redirected to standard national vaccination regimens. Methods: This multicentre, prospective controlled cohort study included subjects who received a COVID-19 experimental vaccine (CVnCoV)(test group, TG) - and unvaccinated subjects (control group, CG), selected among individuals to be vaccinated according to the Spanish vaccination program. All study subjects received BNT162b2 as a standard national vaccination schedule, except 8 (from CG) who received mRNA-1273 and were excluded from immunogenicity analyses. Anti-RBD antibodies level and neutralising titres (NT50) against G614, Beta, Mu, Delta and Omicron variants were analysed. Reactogenicity was also assessed. Findings: 130 participants (TG:92; CG:38) completed standard vaccination. In TG, median (IQR) of anti-RBD antibodies after first BNT162b2 dose were 10740·0 BAU/mL (4466·0-12500) compared to 29·8 BAU/mL (14·5-47·8) in CG (p <0·0001). Median NT50 (IQR) of G614 was 2674·0 (1865·0-3997·0) in TG and 63·0 (16·0-123·1) in CG (p <0·0001). After second BNT162b2 dose, anti-RBD levels increased to ≥12500 BAU/mL (11625·0-12500) in TG compared to 1859·0 BAU/mL (915·4-3820·0) in CG (p <0·0001). NT50 was 2626·5 (1756·0-5472·0) and 850·4 (525·1-1608·0), respectively (p <0·0001). Variant-specific (Beta, Mu, Omicron) response was also assessed. Most frequent adverse reactions were headache, myalgia, and local pain. No severe AEs were reported. Interpretation: Heterologous BNT162b2 as third and fourth doses in previously suboptimal immunized individuals elicit stronger immune response than that obtained with two doses of BNT162b2. This apparent benefit was also observed in variant-specific response. No safety concerns arose. Funding: Partly funded by the Institute of Health Carlos-III and COVID-19 Fund, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) "A way to make Europe".