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The ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) model can be used at different stages of acute kidney injury (AKI) development, especially during AKI to chronic kidney disease (CKD) progression. Here, we describe the procedure for IRI model development in mice via a trans-abdominal approach, clamping renal pedicles via a vascular clip to induce ischemic injury.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is defined as a rapid decline in renal function, in which persistent kidney dysfunction gradually progresses to chronic kidney disease (CKD) due to the irreversible loss of nephrons and their maladaptive repair. In recent years, the incidence of AKI has been increasing concerning diverse etiologies, including volume depletion, sepsis, nephrotoxicity, muscle injury, and major trauma, in which ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) accounts for most episodes. Development of the IRI model in mice is induced by surgical clamping of the renal pedicles, which provides powerful and controllable tools for preclinical models of AKI. Importantly, the IRI model is deployed at different stages of the AKI development, especially in the processes of AKI to CKD. Despite the IRI model being widely practiced in many laboratories, a series of variables still influence the results of this model. Here, we describe the procedure of IRI model development to provide a repeatable and reliable method for researchers to explore the underlying pathogenesis in the development of AKI and the progression of AKI to CKD.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe clinical syndrome with significant morbidity and mortality, defined as an increase in serum creatinine of ≥ 0.3 mg/dL (26.5 µM/L) within 48 h or an increase in serum creatinine to ≥ 1.5 times baseline within 7 days, or urine volume < 0.5 mL/kg/h for 6 h1,2,3. Despite decades of research, effective therapy for AKI is lacking to alleviate kidney damage or accelerate kidney recovery, and a considerable proportion of AKI patients progress to chronic kidney disease (CKD)4,5,6. Complex molecules and pathways are involved in AKI and its progression in part, so preclinical models provide powerful tools to unravel these complexities for the development of efficient therapeutic modalities.
Clinically, ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) injury is the major cause of AKI in various conditions, including cardiac and hepatic surgeries, circulatory shock, volume depletion, sepsis, renal vascular occlusion or obstruction, kidney transplantation, and so on7. The IRI-AKI mouse model has been in use since the 1960s; this model was developed by surgical clamping of the renal pedicles with non-traumatic clamps in mice leading to ischemia and followed by reperfusion of renal blood flow by removing the clamps. The IRI-AKI model is typically characterized by renal tubular cell death and progressive kidney tissue damage. The IRI is one of the most common models used for the pathogenesis and therapeutic intervention in AKI for several reasons: (1) The simplicity and safety of the surgical procedure improve the survival rate and success rate of the IRI-AKI model8; (2) Since ischemia is a major etiology in human AKI, IRI-AKI model is better used for assessing clinical AKI event9; (3) The IRI model could present kidney injury and histopathology changes in different stages of AKI, which is also applicable to studying the progression from AKI to CKD10. Depending on the experimental design, IRI-induced AKI models include bilateral IRI, unilateral IRI with intact contralateral kidney, and unilateral IRI with simultaneous contralateral nephrectomy. Notably, the bilateral IRI model is considered more relevant to human pathological conditions of AKI because both kidneys have been affected by blood supply11. The IRI model is applicable to simulate the effects of reduced renal blood flow after kidney transplantation, cardiac bypass, renal vascular, or nephron-sparing surgery, as well as in the setting of hypotension9. Here, we describe the procedure for a bilateral IRI model to provide a consistent and reliable method for researchers to explore the underlying pathogenesis in ischemia-induced AKI.
Male C57BL/6J mice at 8 weeks of age and weighing 25 g were used to establish the AKI model by bilateral ischemia-reperfusion. As per previous studies, we maintain the body temperature at around 36.5 °C-37 °C, and the kidney ischemia duration is 30 min in the IRI surgery12,13. A total of 6 mice were needed for each group, and sham-operated mice served as controls. The animal experiments in this study have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) of Zhejiang University to protect the welfare of animals. All animal research procedures were performed following the ethical guidelines and principles of Zhejiang University.
1. Pre-operative preparation
2. Surgery
3. Post-operative care
4. Model assessment
State of the kidney during surgery
The characteristic of successful ischemia is that the kidney gradually changes from red to deep purple within 1-2 min, and successful reperfusion is characterized by the kidney gradually changing from deep purple to red within 1-2 min.
Histology of the kidney after surgery
HE and Periodic Acid Schiff (PAS) staining are the direct ways to verify acute kidney injury. In th...
In this paper, we have provided a detailed procedure on the renal IRI model, subsequently highlighting that it is a robust model for the progression of AKI and AKI to CKD. In addition, we demonstrate the impact of the two main criteria of kidney injury, including kidney histology and function.
Several key points in surgical procedures need to be emphasized for a repeatable and reliable model. For abdominal surgery, a midline incision is recommended to expose the kidney to minimize trauma assoc...
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
We express our appreciation to all participants for their collaboration in the current study. This study was supported by the funding from Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (LZ22H050001) and Zhejiang provincial program for the Cultivation of High-level Innovative Health talents to Weiqiang Lin.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
Animal hair clipper | FEIYUBIO | 19-7002 | |
1-ml syringes | Longreen | SR60061 | |
Ethanol | Macklin | E885996 | |
Gauze | FEIYUBIO | 19-5022 | |
Homeothermic monitor system | Warmmate | 40 x 50 | |
Needle holder | DKBT | CZQ-00160 | |
Spreader | RWD | R22029-03 | |
Sterile saline | Biosharp | BL158A | |
Tissue scissors | DKBT | DC-YKJ1002 | |
Tissue tweezers | DKBT | DK079904 | |
Vascular clip | Fine Science Tools | 18055-02 | |
Vicryl suture | Shanghai Jinhuan | 4 -0 |
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