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Protective Effects of Growth Arrest-Specific Protein 6 (Gas6) on Sepsis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury

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Abstract

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a serious complication of sepsis, which has a high mortality rate. Growth arrest-specific protein 6 (Gas6), the protein product of the growth arrest specific gene 6, has been shown to have an anti-apoptotic effect as well as pro-survival capability. Here, we investigated the effects of Gas6 on sepsis-associated AKI in mice subjected to cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). We found that the administration of rmGas6 significantly reduced serum urea nitrogen and creatinine and improved the survival of septic mice. Furthermore, the renal pathological damage induced by CLP was attenuated by rmGas6 treatment. Finally, rmGas6 reduced the renal tissue apoptotic index and the expression of Bax, while it upregulated the expression of Bcl-2. The data suggest that rmGas6 might be used as a potential therapeutic agent for sepsis-induced AKI.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported, in part, by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation (No. 81401621, 81571937), the Excellent Yong Talents Program of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Zhejiang Province (No. 2013ZQ023), and grants from the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (No. LY13H150004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Emergency Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325000, People’s Republic of China

    Long-wang Chen, Wei Chen, Zhi-qiang Hu, Jia-lan Bian, Lan Ying, Guang-liang Hong, Qiao-meng Qiu, Guang-ju Zhao & Zhong-qiu Lu

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  1. Long-wang Chen
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  2. Wei Chen
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Correspondence to Guang-ju Zhao or Zhong-qiu Lu.

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Chen, Lw., Chen, W., Hu, Zq. et al. Protective Effects of Growth Arrest-Specific Protein 6 (Gas6) on Sepsis-Induced Acute Kidney Injury. Inflammation 39, 575–582 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10753-015-0282-2

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