Abstract

Mitochondria play an important role in acute kidney injury. Yi Shen Pai Du formula is an effective traditional Chinese medicine formula for the clinical treatment of acute kidney injury. However, this study aimed to explore and investigate the mechanism of Yi Shen Pai Du formula on acute kidney injury. C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into the control group, the acute kidney injury model group, and the Yi Shen Pai Du formula group (n=25). The levels of serum urea nitrogen, creatinine, and the expressions of reactive oxygen species, superoxide dismutase, and malondialdehyde in the mice were examined. The mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid copy number was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. We report that the serum urea nitrogen and creatinine levels significantly increased in the Yi Shen Pai Du formula group. The reactive oxygen species expression was elevated while the expression of reactive oxygen species was decreased, and the expression of malondialdehyde was elevated. The oxidative stress biomarkers, such as malondialdehyde expression enhanced while superoxide dismutase expression was reduced. In addition, the mitochondrial deoxyribonucleic acid copy number level was significantly increased. Furthermore, the transmission electron microscopy showed that the number of mitochondria in the renal tubular epithelial cells of the mice of the Yi Shen Pai Du formula group was significantly increased compared with that in the model group, and the morphology of the mitochondrial cells was more intact. Our results led us to speculate that the Yi Shen Pai Du formula could effectively promote renal function recovery in mice with acute kidney injury and alleviate the degree of transformation from acute kidney injury to chr onic kidney disease.