Abstract

Objective

Renal fibrosis is the most common manifestation of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Noting that existing treatments of renal fibrosis only slow disease progression but do not cure it, there is an urgent need to identify novel therapies. Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) is a newly discovered endogenous small gas signaling molecule exerting a wide range of biologic actions in our body. This review illustrates recent experimental findings on the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of H2S against renal fibrosis and highlights its potential in future clinical application.

Data sources

Literature was collected from PubMed until February 2019, using the search terms including “Hydrogen sulfide,” “Chronic kidney disease,” “Renal interstitial fibrosis,” “Kidney disease,” “Inflammation factor,” “Oxidative stress,” “Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition,” “H2S donor,” “Hypertensive kidney dysfunction,” “Myofibroblasts,” “Vascular remodeling,” “transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta/Smads signaling,” and “Sulfate potassium channels.”

Study selection

Literature was mainly derived from English articles or articles that could be obtained with English abstracts. Article type was not limited. References were also identified from the bibliographies of identified articles and the authors’ files.

Results

The experimental data confirmed that H2S is widely involved in various renal pathologies by suppressing inflammation and oxidative stress, inhibiting the activation of fibrosis-related cells and their cytokine expression, ameliorating vascular remodeling and high blood pressure, stimulating tubular cell regeneration, as well as reducing apoptosis, autophagy, and hypertrophy. Therefore, H2S represents an alternative or additional therapeutic approach for renal fibrosis.

Conclusions

We postulate that H2S may delay the occurrence and progress of renal fibrosis, thus protecting renal function. Further experiments are required to explore the precise role of H2S in renal fibrosis and its application in clinical treatment.

Details

Title
Involvement of hydrogen sulfide in the progression of renal fibrosis
Author
Wang, Yu 1 ; Qi-Qi, Xing 2 ; Jing-Ke, Tu 3 ; Tang, Wen-Bin 4 ; Xiang-Ning, Yuan 4 ; Yan-Yun, Xie 4 ; Wang, Wei 4 ; Zhang-Zhe, Peng 4 ; Huang, Ling 4 ; Xu, Hui 4 ; Jiao, Qin 5 ; Xiang-Cheng, Xiao 4 ; Li-Jian, Tao 4 ; Qiong-Jing, Yuan 4 

 Reproductive Medicine Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China 
 Division of Orthopedics, Department of Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China 
 Regenerative Medicine Clinic, Institute of Hematology and Blood Diseases Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Tianjin 300041, China 
 Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China 
 Division of Nephrology, Department of Internal Medicine, Changsha Central Hospital, Changsha, Hunan 410008, China 
Pages
2872-2880
Section
Review Articles
Publication year
2019
Publication date
Dec 2019
Publisher
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
ISSN
03666999
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2502605214
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 The Chinese Medical Association, produced by Wolters Kluwer, Inc. under the CC-BY-NC-ND license. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0 (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.