Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a severe complication in critically ill patients and is related with an increased mortality. Here, we present a reliable and reproducible in vivo model to mimic AKI under inflammatory conditions that might contribute towards understanding the pathogenesis of septic AKI.
AKI in septic patients is associated with increased mortality and poor outcome despite major efforts to refine the understanding of its pathophysiology. Here, an in vivo model is presented that combines a standardized septic focus to induce AKI and an intensive care (ICU) setup to provide an advanced hemodynamic monitoring and therapy comparable in human sepsis. Sepsis is induced by standardized colon ascendens stent peritonitis (sCASP). AKI is investigated functionally by measurement of blood and urine samples as well as histologically by evaluation of histopathological scores. Furthermore, the advanced hemodynamic monitoring and the possibility of repetitive blood gas sampling enable a differentiated analysis of severity of induced sepsis.
The sCASP method is a standardized, reliable and reproducible method to induce septic AKI. The intensive care setup, continuous hemodynamic and gas exchange monitoring, low mortality rate as well as the opportunity of detailed analyses of kidney function and impairments are advantages of this setup. Therefore, the described method may serve as a new standard for experimental investigations of septic AKI.
Sepsis still remains the leading cause of death on non-cardiac intensive care units (ICU) with mortality rates of ≈ 30 – 50%1,2,3. A hallmark of severe sepsis and septic shock is the acute kidney injury that causes a further increase of mortality rate when it is associated with distant organ dysfunction such as cardiac and respiratory failure4,5,6. The overall incidence of AKI in ICU patients varies from 20 to 50%7. Despite the pivotal role of AKI regarding outcome and mortality in sepsis the underlying pathomechanism is still poorly understood.
Overall there are the 3 major components: inflammation, toxic injury, and hemodynamic changes that contribute to AKI development7. Hemodynamic changes encompass reduced renal blood flow (RBF) and global or regional renal ischemia. Here, it has to be considered that sepsis can also cause an impairment of renal microcirculation due to systemic hypotension and/or endothelial barrier disruption8. Therefore, the study of septic AKI should always include hemodynamic monitoring. Recent in vivo studies about AKI used mostly animal models such as renal ischemia-reperfusion injury or bilateral nephrectomy. These studies usually showed a lack of hemodynamic monitoring and intensive care.
The investigation of potential new pathomechanisms and therapies of septic AKI requires an in vivo model with a defined septic focus, an intensive care setup, a predictable outcome and an organ injury9,10,11,12. Here, we describe an innovative rodent model for septic AKI that meets the requirements mentioned before. Septic AKI is induced by standardized colon ascendens stent peritonitis (sCASP). The used sCASP model causes an abdominal sepsis by an intestinal fecal leakage leading to bacterial invasion and multi organ failure13. It has been shown that pathophysiological changes after CASP are similar to those in human sepsis and thus CASP represents a clinically relevant model in sepsis research11,14.
Furthermore, an intensive care (ICU) setup that comprises an advanced hemodynamic monitoring and ICU therapy is established in the experimental protocol. The ICU setup enables fluid resuscitation, analgesia application intravenously and repetitive blood gas analysis. The kidney function is evaluated by measurement of standard values such as creatinine and by inulin- and p-aminohippuric-acid-(PAH) clearance. Additional information is delivered by pathohistological scores of harvested tissue and organs at the end of the experiment. The sCASP model to induce septic AKI is already evaluated and revealed new insights in renal pathology15. Further application of this protocol presented below might help to refine the understanding of septic AKI.
All animal procedures were approved by the Laboratory Animal Care and Use Committee of the District of Unterfranken, Germany and carried out according to the Declaration of Helsinki.
1. Surgical preparation and installation of invasive monitoring and continuous medication
2. sCASP-Procedure
3. Postoperative Procedure
4. Preparing the measurements on the second day
5. Evaluation of kidney function
6. Ending of the experiments
As previously published by Schick et al.8, we demonstrate the following results.
Induction of sepsis without mortality
In the CASP model, sepsis is induced by a continuous leakage of intraluminal located bacteria of the colon ascendens into the abdominal cavity resulting in fecal peritonitis and bacteremia. Hereby, the size of the implanted catheter regulates the output of faeces and thus the severity of peritonitis and sepsis. In the experimental protocol presented above a 14G needle combined with the tip of the specially prepared 10 FR suction catheter was used to have a sufficient peritonitis. Smaller catheters caused only abscesses with local inflammation as the seminal vesicle mostly occluded the smaller stents and prevented a continuous fecal output.
Control and sCASP animals survived the experiment, but in sCASP-group a fluid resuscitation was necessary to maintain mean arterial pressure (MAP) ≥ 70 mmHg. sCASP-treated animals showed ubiquitous faecal peritonitis without abscess formations and exhibited clinical signs of severe sepsis revealed by decreased activity, reduced alertness, ruffled fur and hunched posture. This clinical status deteriorated continuously over time.
The fluid resuscitated sCASP rats showed significant differences in MAP and heart rate but no differences in cardiac output compared to control animals (Figure 1). Blood analyses after 24 hours revealed signs of sepsis in sCASP-treated animals with increased lactate, increased IL-6 and a typical leucopenia for these animals compared to control (Figure 1).
Determination of sepsis-induced AKI
The inulin clearance, described as the gold standard to evaluate kidney function, was significantly decreased in sCASP animals compared to the control after 24 hours (Figure 2 A). Furthermore, urine output (Figure 1) and PAH clearance were significantly reduced in sCASP animals (Figure 2 B). NGAL (Figure 2 C) and Cystatin C (Figure 2 D) were increased in sepsis compared to the control group. The standard parameters for AKI such as urea and creatinine confirmed the impaired kidney function in the sCASP group by elevated levels of both parameters measured in blood serum (Figure 2 E and F).
Acute kidney injury in sCASP group was not only be determined by functional parameters but also by an increased histo-pathological injury score (Figure 3). This score is based on morphological alterations including formation of edema, cellular edema, detachment of tubular epithelium from the basement membrane, loss of the brush border of the proximal tubular cells, cell death and vacuolisation. sCASP group showed an increased histo-pathological score of kidneys 24 hours after sepsis induction, whereby interstitial edema and impaired tubules´ brush border were the leading factors for the higher score compared to control animals (Figure 3). Furthermore, rate of dead cells and events of detached basement membrane were significantly increased in sCASP animals (Figure 3).
Figure 1: Macrohemodynamics and sepsis parameters. Following values confirm presence of sepsis in sCASP operated animals: Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), cardiac index (CI), lactate, leukocytes, interleukin 6 (IL 6) and urine output. * p<0.05 vs. control, § p<0.05 vs. sham. Data are already published in ICMex by Schick et al.15 Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 2: Kidney function parameters. The parameters inulin- (A) and PAH- clearance (B) [mL/min], described as the gold standard to measure kidney function were significantly decreased in the sCASP group. In contrast NGAL (C) and cystatin C (D) [pg/mL] were increased as a further sign of septic AKI. The clinical standard parameters such as creatinine (E) and urea (F) [mg/dL] showed also elevated levels in septic animals. * p< 0.05 vs. control, § p<0.05 vs. sham. Data are already published in ICMex by Schick et al.15 Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
Figure 3: Histological Injury Scores. Showing the differences between control, sham and sCASP regarding interstitial edema, loss of the brush border of the proximal tubular cells, cell death and the total injury score. Bars show mean ± standard deviation. * p< 0.05 vs. control, § p<0.05 vs. sham. Please click here to view a larger version of this figure.
The pathophysiology of septic AKI still remains unknown in its complexity. Clinical research and trials in patients will not enable gains of new insights with respect to histopathology changes, microcirculation disturbances or drug interactions on cellular levels15. It has been postulated previously that there is a need for improved and new animal models to investigate acute kidney injury associated with sepsis19. Therefore, we established a new animal model for septic AKI induced by colon ascendens stent peritonitis.
The CASP model presents a clinical relevant model to mimic sepsis in humans started with faecal peritonitis seen in surgical patients. The major advantage of CASP is that it does not start with an ischemic hit like in the widely used CLP model where a ligation of the caecum is performed14. Furthermore Maier et al. shows that the CLP model represents an intra-abdominal abscess situation rather than a ubiquitous peritonitis with systemic bacteremia14. By using different sizes of the stent implanted in the colon ascendens, the severity of sepsis and the survival rate can be affected as shown in previous publications13,14,20. To avoid an occlusion of stent by omentum or seminal vesicles a modified stent with a diameter of 10 FR was inserted15. In the animal model described above only male rats were used to exclude hormone variation instead of female animals as in the original CASP model by Zantl et al. and Traeger et al.13,21.
It has to be considered that even after performance the experimental setup presented above in a standardized manner, variability can occur based on different mouse strains, animal facility, gender and operator. Therefore, it can be necessary to adjust the size of the stent and thus the severity of peritonitis and sepsis. Furthermore, it is recommended that the same operator performs both the sCASP and the control on the same day to reduce variability.
An acute kidney injury can occur due to hypoxia and ischemia caused by hypotension or respiratory failure with decreased PaO2 in sepsis22. Changes in hemodynamic and metabolic conditions led to tissue hypoxia that influences renal integrity and may affect morbidity and mortality23. Therefore, a continuous evaluation of hemodynamic and respiratory values should be available in an in vivo model that is used to investigate septic AKI. Here, we presented an in vivo model that is characterized by an ICU setup comparable to patients24,25,26. It enables a continuous measurement of hemodynamic values such as heart rate and arterial blood pressure and evaluation of respiratory status by taking blood for blood gas analyses. Furthermore, these data gained by continuous monitoring are necessary and helpful for fluid resuscitation and adaptation of anesthesia protocol.
The evaluation of kidney function by measurement of inulin and PAH clearance is only possible at the end of the experiment as a re-laparotomy and incision of the urine bladder is necessary. If an investigation of kidney function during the experiment is required, blood samples can be taken to measure standard parameters such as creatinine and urea. Hereby, it has to be considered, that a fluid replacement should be conducted to avoid a pre-renal failure due to hypovolemia.
The purpose of this model was to establish a stable rodent setup of septic AKI with clinical relevance that enables further studies in pathophysiology and treatment of renal failure. This model can also be used to investigate different therapy strategies of abdominal sepsis and septic AKI. Therefore, this model can serve as a stable rodent setup of septic AKI being close to the clinical setting of an intensive care unit. Furthermore, the described model can be modified and successfully used for a wide spectrum of in vivo sepsis research, e.g. immune dysregulation, endothelial breakdown, coagulopathy, microcirculation disturbance, pharmacotherapy and resuscitation25.
The authors have nothing to disclose.
M.A. Schick and N. Schlegel received funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) SCHL 1962/2-1 and SCHL 1962/4-1.
Sprague-Dawley rats | Janvier Labs, France | ||
Isoflurane CP | cp-pharma, Burgdorf, Germany | ||
polyethylen catheter PE 10; 30m | A. Hartenstein, Wuerzburg, Germany | 0.58×0.96 mm | |
Swivel (375/D/20) | Instech, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA | (375/D/20) | |
plastic button tethers | Instech, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA | LW105S | |
Perfusor | B. Braun; Melsungen, Germany | Perfusor fm | |
suction catheter ch. 10 | B.Braun Melsungen AG, Germany | suction catheter typy „Ideal“; ch. 10 | |
suture | Syneture; USA | Surgipro; Monofilament Polypropylen 4-0 | |
suture | Ethicon; Scotland | Prolene; Polypropylen 5-0 | |
14G-i.v. catheter | BD Insynte; BD Vialon; Madrid; Spain | 14GA i.v. catheter | |
cotton buds | NOBA Verbandmittel Danz GmbH u Co KG; Wetter; Germany | ||
rodent respirator | Hugo Sachs Elektronik KG, Germany | rodent respirator, Type:7025 | |
Midazolam | Ratiopharm, Germany | Midazolam | |
Thermodilutioncatheter | ADInstruments, Spechbach, Germany | ||
p-Aminohippuric acid | Sigma-Aldrich; St. Louis; USA | p-Aminohippuric acid sodium salt; A3759-25G | |
Inulin | Sigma-Aldrich; St. Louis; USA | Inulin-FITC; F3272-1G | |
Formaldehyde | Otto Fischar GmbH & CoKG; Saarbrücken, Germany | Formaldehyde 3.5% | |
Cyclopentan | Merck; Darmstadt; Germany | Uvasol: 2-Methylbutan | |
alcohol based scrub | Schülke & Mayr GmbH, Norderstedt; Germany | kodan Tinktur forte; 45g 2-Propanol, 10g 1-Propanol per 100g | |
povidone iodine solution | B.Braun Melsungen AG, Germany | Braunol, 7.5g Povidone Iodine per 100g |
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