Parametric MRI Detects Aristolochic Acid Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Yingjie Mei; Guixiang Yang; Yihao Guo; Kaixuan Zhao; Shuyu Wu; Zhongbiao Xu; Shan Zhou; Chenggong Yan; Erdmann Seeliger; Thoralf Niendorf; Yikai Xu; Yanqiu Feng

doi:10.3390/tomography8060243

Parametric MRI Detects Aristolochic Acid Induced Acute Kidney Injury

Tomography. 2022 Dec 10;8(6):2902-2914. doi: 10.3390/tomography8060243.

Authors

Yingjie Mei¹, Guixiang Yang^{1

2}, Yihao Guo³, Kaixuan Zhao¹, Shuyu Wu⁴, Zhongbiao Xu⁵, Shan Zhou⁶, Chenggong Yan², Erdmann Seeliger⁷, Thoralf Niendorf⁸, Yikai Xu², Yanqiu Feng^{1

9

10

11}

Affiliations

¹ School of Biomedical Engineering, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
² Department of Medical Imaging Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), Haikou 570311, China.
⁴ Radiotherapy Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital & Institute of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510095, China.
⁵ Radiotherapy Center, Guangdong General Hospital, Guangzhou 510080, China.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Organ Failure Research, National Clinical Research Center of Kidney Disease, Division of Nephrology, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
⁷ Institute of Translational Physiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (B.U.F.F.), Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine in the Helmholtz Association, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Medical Image Processing & Guangdong Province Engineering Laboratory for Medical Imaging and Diagnostic Technology, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
¹⁰ Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Center for Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Intelligence & Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Ministry of Education, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
¹¹ Department of Radiology, Shunde Hospital, Southern Medical University (The First People's Hospital of Shunde, Foshan), Foshan 528399, China.

Abstract

Exposure to aristolochic acid (AA) is of increased concern due to carcinogenic and nephrotoxic effects, and incidence of aristolochic acid nephropathy (AAN) is increasing. This study characterizes renal alterations during the acute phase of AAN using parametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An AAN and a control group of male Wistar rats received administration of aristolochic acid I (AAI) and polyethylene glycol (PEG), respectively, for six days. Both groups underwent MRI before and 2, 4 and 6 days after AAI or PEG administration. T₂ relaxation times and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were determined for four renal layers. Serum creatinine levels (sCr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were measured. Tubular injury scores (TIS) were evaluated based on histologic findings. Increased T₂ values were detected since day 2 in the AAN group, but decreased ADCs and increased sCr levels and BUN were not detected until day 4. Significant linear correlations were observed between T₂ of the cortex and the outer stripe of outer medulla and TIS. Our results demonstrate that parametric MRI facilitates early detection of renal injury induced by AAI in a rat model. T₂ mapping may be a valuable tool for assessing kidney injury during the acute phase of AAN.

Keywords: T2 mapping; acute kidney injury; aristolochic acid; diffusion weighted imaging; magnetic resonance imaging.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Acute Kidney Injury* / chemically induced
Acute Kidney Injury* / diagnostic imaging
Acute Kidney Injury* / pathology
Animals
Kidney* / diagnostic imaging
Kidney* / pathology
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Rats
Rats, Wistar

Substances

aristolochic acid I

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U21A6005), Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2018B030340001, 2018B030333001), and Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation (2020A1515110577, 2019A1515111182).