Mice rescued from severe malaria are protected against renal injury during a second kidney insult

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 15;9(4):e93634. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093634. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Malaria is a worldwide disease that leads to 1 million deaths per year. Plasmodium falciparum is the species responsible for the most severe form of malaria leading to different complications. Beyond the development of cerebral malaria, impairment of renal function is a mortality indicator in infected patients. Treatment with antimalarial drugs can increase survival, however the long-term effects of malaria on renal disease, even after treatment with antimalarials, are unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of antimalarial drug treatment on renal function in a murine model of severe malaria and then evaluate kidney susceptibility to a second renal insult. Initially, mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA achieved 20% parasitemia on day 5 post infection, which was completely abolished after treatment with 25 mg/kg artesunate and 40 mg/kg mefloquine. The treatment also decreased plasma creatinine levels by 43% and partially reversed the reduction in the glomerular filtration rate induced by infection. The urinary protein/creatinine ratio, collagen deposition, and size of the interstitial space decreased by 75%, 40%, and 20%, respectively, with drugs compared with untreated infected animals. In infected-treated mice that underwent a second renal insult, the plasma creatinine level decreased by 60% and the glomerular filtration rate increased compared with infected animals treated only with antimalarials. The number of glomerular cells, collagen deposition and the size of the interstitial space decreased by 20%, 39.4%, and 41.3%, respectively, in the infected group that underwent a second renal insult compared with the infected-treated groups. These functional and structural data show that renal injury observed in a murine model of severe malaria is partially reversed after antimalarial drug treatment, making the kidney less susceptible to a second renal insult.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Kidney Injury / parasitology*
  • Acute Kidney Injury / pathology
  • Acute Kidney Injury / physiopathology
  • Acute Kidney Injury / prevention & control*
  • Animals
  • Antimalarials / administration & dosage
  • Antimalarials / pharmacology*
  • Collagen / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Kidney Cortex / metabolism
  • Kidney Cortex / pathology
  • Kidney Glomerulus / drug effects
  • Kidney Glomerulus / pathology
  • Malaria / complications*
  • Malaria / drug therapy*
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Parasitemia / drug therapy
  • Parasitemia / pathology
  • Plasmodium berghei / drug effects
  • Protective Agents / administration & dosage
  • Protective Agents / pharmacology

Substances

  • Antimalarials
  • Protective Agents
  • Collagen

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from the Brazilian agencies: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq (INCT-INPeTAm/CNPq/MCT, INCT-INBEB/CNPq/MCT) and Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - FAPERJ. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.