Hemolysis is known to cause acute kidney injury (AKI). The iron regulatory hormone hepcidin, produced by renal distal tubules, is suggested to exert a renoprotective role during this pathology. We aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of renal hepcidin synthesis and its protection against hemoglobin-induced AKI. In contrast to known hepatic hepcidin induction, incubation of mouse cortical collecting duct (mCCDcl1) cells with IL-6 or LPS did not induce Hamp1 mRNA expression, whereas iron (FeS) and hemin significantly induced hepcidin synthesis (p < 0.05). Moreover, iron/heme-mediated hepcidin induction in mCCDcl1 cells was caused by the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathway, as indicated by increased nuclear Nrf2 translocation and induced expression of Nrf2 downstream targets GCLM (p < 0.001), NQO1 (p < 0.001), and TXNRD1 (p < 0.005), which could be prevented by the known Nrf2 inhibitor trigonelline. Newly created inducible kidney-specific hepcidin KO mice demonstrated a significant reduction in renal Hamp1 mRNA expression. Phenylhydrazine (PHZ)-induced hemolysis caused renal iron loading and oxidative stress in both wildtype (Wt) and KO mice. PHZ treatment in Wt induced inflammatory markers (IL-6, TNFα) but not Hamp1. However, since PHZ treatment also significantly reduced systemic hepcidin levels in both Wt and KO mice (both p < 0.001), a dissection between the roles of systemic and renal hepcidin could not be made. Combined, the results of our study indicate that there are kidney-specific mechanisms in hepcidin regulation, as indicated by the dominant role of iron and not inflammation as an inducer of renal hepcidin, but also emphasize the complex interplay of various iron regulatory mechanisms during AKI on a local and systemic level.
Keywords: acute kidney injury; hemoglobin; hepcidin; iron; kidney.