Background: Thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) has been reported to affect wound healing and fibrotic processes, but its role in renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis remains unknown.
Objective: To study its potential role, we compared TAFI-deficient and wild-type mice for the degree of renal fibrosis caused by unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO).
Methods: The grade of tubulointerstitial fibrosis, the activity of plasmin, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were evaluated on days 4 and 9 after UUO.
Results: The renal content of hydroxyproline and the activity of plasmin, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were significantly increased in kidneys with UUO from TAFI-deficient mice compared with those from wild-type mice. These differences disappeared when animals with UUO from both groups were treated with the plasmin inhibitor tranexamic acid. The renal concentrations of fibrogenic cytokines were also significantly elevated in kidneys with UUO from TAFI-deficient mice compared with those from wild-type mice.
Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that increased renal activity of plasmin in TAFI-deficient mice causes increased renal interstitial fibrosis in obstructive nephropathy.