Hydrogen sulfide ameliorates chronic renal failure in rats by inhibiting apoptosis and inflammation through ROS/MAPK and NF-κB signaling pathways

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a major public health problem worldwide. Hydrogen sulfide (H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S) plays important roles in renal physiological and pathophysiological processes. However, whether H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S could protect against CRF in rats remains unclear. In this study, we found that H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S alleviated gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity by reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS)-mediated apoptosis in normal rat kidney-52E cells. We demonstrated that H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S significantly improved the kidney structure and function of CRF rats. We found that H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S decreased the protein levels of Bax, Caspase-3, and Cleaved-caspase-3, but increased the expression of Bcl-2. Treatment with H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S reduced the levels of malondialdehyde and ROS and increased the activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase. H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S significantly abolished the phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase 1/2, c-Jun N-terminal kinase, and p38 in the kidney of CRF rats. Furthermore, H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S decreased the expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, as well as the protein levels of p50, p65, and p-p65 in the kidney of CRF rats. In conclusion, H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>S could ameliorate adenine-induced CRF in rats by inhibiting apoptosis and inflammation through ROS/mitogen-activated protein kinase and nuclear factor-kappa B signaling pathways.</jats:p>