Chitosan Prevents Gentamicin-Induced Nephrotoxicity via a Carbonyl Stress-Dependent Pathway

Abstract EN

Aminoglycosides are widely used to treat infections; however, their applications are limited by nephrotoxicity.

With the increase of antibiotic resistance, the use of aminoglycosides is inevitable.

Low-molecular-weight chitosan (LMWC) has shown renal protective effects in dialysis patients.

However, no study has evaluated LMWC for preventing aminoglycoside-induced nephrotoxicity or determined the mechanisms underlying the renal protective effects.

In this study, LMWC (165 or 825 mg/kg/day) or metformin (100 mg/kg/day) was orally administered for 13 days to rats with nephropathy induced by gentamicin (GM), a kind of aminoglycoside (150 mg/kg/day i.p.

for 6 days).

Both LMCW doses improved renal function.

Serum creatinine levels improved in rats treated with 165 and 825 mg/kg/day LMWC (from 2.14 ± 0.74 mg/dL to 1.26 ± 0.46 mg/dL and 0.69 ± 0.12 mg/dL, resp., P < 0.05).

Blood urea nitrogen levels were also improved in these rats (from 73.73 ± 21.13 mg/dL to 58.70 ± 22.71 mg/dL and 28.82 ± 3.84 mg/dL, resp., P < 0.05).

Additionally, renal tissue morphology improved after LMWC treatment, and accumulation of renal methylglyoxal, a damage factor associated with carbonyl stress, was reversed.

These results show that LMWC prevents GM-induced renal toxicity via a carbonyl stress-dependent pathway.