2.6 Animal experiments
Female C57BL/6 mice (8-10 weeks, 20-22g) and Nrf2 KO mice were purchased
from Vital River (Beijing, China) and Jackson Laboratory (Bar, Harbor,
USA), respectively. After one week of acclimatization, CI-AKI was
established in female C57BL/6 mice. The experimental animals were
divided into five groups as follows (n=10/group): control (0.1% DMSO in
normal saline), cisplatin (20 mg/kg), cisplatin (20 mg/kg)+leonurine (50
mg/kg and 100 mg/kg) and leonurine only (100 mg/kg dissolved in 0.1%
DMSO). After fasting, the mice in the cisplatin (20 mg/kg) + leonurine
group were treated with 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg leonurine by gavage and
intraperitoneally injected with cisplatin (20 mg/kg) one hour later to
induce acute renal injury. Mice in the control, cisplatin and leonurine
groups were treated with 0.1% DMSO in normal saline, cisplatin (20
mg/kg) and leonurine (100 mg/kg dissolved in 0.1% DMSO), respectively.
On the second and third days, the mice in the cisplatin (20
mg/kg)+leonurine and leonurine only groups were administered leonurine
by gavage once more. On the fourth day, all the mice were sacrificed,
and kidney and blood samples were collected for further experiments. The
mice were housed in a controlled living environment and provided
adequate amounts of food and water.