Protective effect of taurine against renal interstitial fibrosis of rats induced by cisplatin.

This study was undertaken to investigate the effect of taurine on the infiltration of macrophages and the progression of renal interstitial fibrosis in the kidneys of rats treated with cisplatin (CDDP). Male rats in different groups were treated as follows: (1) saline as control, (2) CDDP and (3) CDDP plus taurine in drinking water. At weeks 2, 4 and 6 after the fifth CDDP injection, we examined platinum content, the kinetics of macrophages and the areas of fibrosis. In the histologic analyses, fibrotic areas were found to have developed around dilated or atrophic tubules in the corticomedullary junction in the kidneys of CDDP-treated rats, while CDDP-plus-taurine-treated rats showed a reduction of the extent and magnitude of damage. These findings reflect the fact that the percentage of fibrotic areas in the kidney of CDDP-plus-taurine-treated rats was significantly lower than in that of CDDP-injected rats throughout the recovery period ( P<0.05). Compared with normal rats, the macrophages in CDDP-injected rats showed significant increases in number at weeks 2, 4 and 6 ( P<0.05). In contrast, the number of macrophages in CDDP-plus-taurine-treated rats was significantly smaller than that of CDDP-injected rats. These results suggested that taurine suppressed the increase of infiltrating macrophages, and led to the attenuation of renal interstitial fibrosis ( P<0.05).