Silicon Nanoparticles Protect Kidneys from Transplant Damage in Rats
- Authors
- Masataka Kawamura, Ryoichi Imamura, Yuki Kobayashi, Ayumu Taniguchi, Shigeaki Nakazawa, Taigo Kato, Tomoko Namba-Hamano, Toyofumi Abe, Motohide Uemura, Hikaru Kobayashi, Norio Nonomura
- Journal
- Frontiers in Medicine
- Year
- 2020
- DOI
- 10.3389/fmed.2020.00095
- Study Type
- Rat
- Outcome
- Positive
- Peer Reviewed
- Yes
- Country
- Japan
- Health Condition
- Kidney Transplant Complications
- Body System
- Renal
TL;DR
Crushing silicon into tiny particles and giving it to rats helped protect their kidneys from damage after a blood supply interruption, by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
Key Finding
Oral administration of nano-sized silicon particles significantly reduced kidney damage markers and oxidative stress in rats with transplant-related kidney injury, with effects visible 72 hours after treatment.
Summary
Researchers tested a new way to deliver hydrogen to the body by giving rats tiny silicon particles that produce hydrogen when they react with water in the stomach. In rats with kidney injury from a transplant procedure, the nano-sized silicon particles reduced markers of cellular damage, decreased inflammation, and protected kidney tissue better than larger silicon particles or no treatment.
Practical Takeaway
This study demonstrates a novel method for delivering hydrogen to the body in rats with kidney injury, but it is early-stage animal research. Before any conclusions can be drawn for human use, this approach would need to be tested in human clinical trials to confirm safety and effectiveness.
Abstract
Organ ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), which is unavoidable in kidney transplantation, induces the formation of reactive oxygen species and causes organ damage. Although the efficacy of molecular hydrogen (H2) in IRI has been reported, oral intake of H2-rich water and inhalation of H2 gas are still not widely used in clinical settings because of the lack of efficiency and difficulty in handling. We successfully generated large quantities of H2 molecules by crushing silicon (Si) to nano-sized Si particles (nano-Si) which were allowed to react with water. The nano-Si or relatively large-sized Si particles (large-Si) were orally administered to rats with renal IRI. Animals were divided into four groups: sham, IRI, IRI + nano-Si, and IRI + large-Si. The levels of serum creatinine and urine protein were significantly decreased 72 h following IRI in rats that were administered nano-Si. The levels of oxidative stress marker, urinary 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine were also significantly decreased with the nano-Si treatment. Transcriptome and gene ontology enrichment analyses showed that the oral nano-Si intake downregulated the biological processes related to oxidative stress, such as immune response, cytokine production, and extrinsic apoptotic signaling pathway. Alterations in the regulation of a subset of genes in the altered pathways were validated by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Furthermore, immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the nano-Si treatment alleviated interstitial macrophage infiltration and tubular apoptosis, implicating the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of nano-Si. In conclusion, renal IRI was attenuated by the oral administration of nano-Si, which should be considered as a novel H2 administration method.