Renal fibrosis is a hallmark in CKD (chronic kidney disease) and is strongly correlated to the deterioration of renal function that is characterized by tubulointerstitial fibrosis, tubular atrophy, glomerulosclerosis and disruption of the normal architecture of the kidney. ALR (augmenter of liver regeneration) is a growth factor with biological functions similar to those of HGF (hepatocyte grow...

OBJECTIVE To compare the efficacy of diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and Doppler ultrasonography (US) by using quantitative markers in acute unilateral obstruction due to renal stones. METHODS This prospective study included 28 patients with unilateral ureteral obstruction and 18 healthy control subjects. In Doppler US and DW MR imaging, resistive index (RI) and appare...

Renal fibrosis is the final common pathway of chronic kidney disease (CKD), and no effective medication is available clinically for managing its progression. Metformin was initially developed as an anti-diabetic drug and recently gained attention for its potential in the treatment of other diseases. In this study, we investigated its effects on renal fibrosis in a mouse model of unilateral uret...

Unilateral ureteral obstruction causes important tubulo-interstitial fibrosis in the kidney. Metformin reduces fibrosis in mice with diabetic nephropathy. We examined the effects of metformin in a mouse model of unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO). Expression of inflammation and fibrosis markers was studied by immunohistochemistry, immunoblot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reacti...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the protective effects of N‑acetylcysteine (NAC) on contrast‑induced acute kidney injury in rats with unilateral hyronephrosis. Eighty‑two male Sprague Dawley rats were randomized to undergo sham operation (n=14) or unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) (n=68). After 3 weeks, the UUO animals were randomized to three groups: NAC gastric perfusion, ...

The balance of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMPs) determines the integrity of the extracellular matrix. TIMP3 is the most highly expressed tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP) in the kidney, but its function in renal disease is incompletely understood. In this study, TIMP3-/- mice demonstrated an age-dependent chronic tubulointers...

Fibrosis underlies the loss of renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and in kidney transplant recipients with chronic allograft nephropathy (CAN). Here, we studied the effect of an intronic SNP in SHROOM3, which has previously been linked to CKD, on the development of CAN in a prospective cohort of renal allograft recipients. The presence of the rs17319721 allele at the S...

Genome-wide association studies have shown that variants in fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene are robustly associated with body mass index and obesity. These FTO variants are also associated with end stage renal disease and all-cause mortality in chronic kidney diseases. However, the exact role of FTO in kidneys is currently unknown. Here we show that FTO expression is increased after ...