Protective effect of melatonin on cisplatin induced acute kidney injury: Role of regulation of heat shock proteins expressions

Chemotherapy is one of the major treatment approaches for cancer, and these agents are known to cause severe side effects, including damaging vital organs. Cisplatin (CP) is a commonly used chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of many cancer types, particularly lung, breast, ovarian, testicular and head-neck cancers. CP is reported to cause damage to damage on brain, kidney, liver and gonads. In this study, is we investigated the protective effects of melatonin (MEL) in acute kidney injury (AKI) induced by CP via assessment of heat-shock protein (HSP) induction in rats. For this purpose, total 40 Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups: Control (n=10), MEL (n=10, 10 mg/kg/i.p. melatonin for 8 days), CP (n=10, 7 mg/kg/i.p. cisplatin at the 5th day), and CP+MEL (n=10, 10 mg/kg/i.p. melatonin for 8 days and 7 mg/kg/i.p. cisplatin at the 5th day). After kidney tissues were extracted, histopathological changes were evaluated and immunoreactivities of HSP47, HSP60, HSP70 and HSP90 in renal cortex were detected via immunohistochemistry. Moreover, blood serum BUN (blood urea nitrogen), creatinine and uric acid levels were measured to assess kidney function. CP group showed histopathological deterioration, and MEL treatment attenuated this damage in CP+MEL group. An increase in HSPs immunoreactivities were detected in renal cortex of CP group when compared with the control and MEL groups, showing increased HSP response because of CP-induced AKI. However, CP-induced HSP induction was significantly lower in the CP+MEL group. Similarly, blood serum BUN, creatinine and uric acid levels were higher in CP group while CP+MEL group showed decreased levels of these parameters. Our results suggest that MEL could exert a significant protective effect against CP-induced AKI via reducing HSP response