Sirt1 deletion leads to enhanced inflammation and aggravates endotoxin-induced acute kidney injury

Bacterial endotoxin has been known to induce excessive inflammatory responses and acute kidney injury. In the present study, we used a mouse model of endotoxemia to investigate the role of Sirt1 in inflammatory kidney injury. We examined molecular and cellular responses in inducible Sirt1 knockout (Sirt1^-/-) mice and wild type littermates (Sirt1^+/+) in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced kidney injury. Our studies demonstrated that Sirt1 deletion caused aggravated kidney injury, which was associated with increased inflammatory responses including elevated pro-inflammatory cytokine production, and increased ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. Inflammatory signaling such as STAT3/ERK phosphorylation and NF-κB activation was markedly elevated in kidney tissues of Sirt1 knockout mice after LPS challenge. The results indicate that Sirt1 is protective against LPS-induced acute kidney injury by suppressing kidney inflammation and down-regulating inflammatory signaling.