Synergistic renoprotective effects of green tea extract and dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor gemigliptin against tacrolimus-induced nephropathy in Mice
Byung-Chul Shin1, Young Min Yoon1, So Min Lee1, Jong Hoon Chung1, Hyung Lee Kim1.
1Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Chsoun University Hospital, Gwangju, Korea
Tacrolimus (TAC) significantly reduces allograft rejection incidence in solid-organ transplantation. However, its long-term use is associated with an increased risk of TAC-induced nephrotoxicity. In this study, we investigated the renoprotective effects of green tea extract (GTE) with or without the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitor (DPP4i; gemigliptin) by assessing serum creatinine levels, the amount of proteinuria, and histopathology in TAC-induced nephrotoxicity. TAC-induced nephrotoxicity was induced by intraperitoneal TAC injection, GTE was administered via subcutaneous injection, and gemigliptin was administered orally. Mice with TAC-induced nephrotoxicity exhibited a significant increase in both serum creatinine levels and 24-hour urine protein. However, when treated with GTE via subcutaneous injection, mice showed a decrease in serum creatinine levels and the amount of proteinuria. Notably, when GTE was combined with gemigliptin, a synergistic renoprotective effect was observed in biochemical assessments, consistent with the attenuation of TAC-induced nephropathy in histopathology. The expression of p53 protein was lower in the mice treated with the combination of GTE and gemigliptin compared to mice with TAC-induced nephropathy. Our results demonstrate that the combination of GTE and gemigliptin treatment reveals renoprotective effects by decreasing the expression of p53 protein. These findings suggest that the combination of GTE and gemigliptin could potentially be used as a prophylactic or therapeutic strategy for TAC-induced nephropathy.
[1] Green tea extract
[2] p53
[3] Tacrolimus