Aristolochic acid (AA) is notorious for inducing nephrotoxicity, but the influence of sex on AA-induced kidney injury was not clear. This study sought to investigate sex differences in kidney dysfunction and tubular injury induced by AA. Male and female mice were bilaterally orchiectomized and ovariectomized, respectively. Fourteen days after gonadectomy, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with AA (10 mg/kg body weight/day) daily for 2 days and sacrificed 7 days after the first injection. Body weight, kidney function, and tubular structure were assessed. When compared between male and female non-gonadectomized mice, AA-induced body weight loss was greater in male mice than in female mice. Functional and structural damages in male kidneys were markedly induced by AA injection, but kidneys in AA-injected female mice showed no or mild damages. Ovariectomy had no effect on AA-induced nephrotoxic acute kidney injury in female mice. However, orchiectomy significantly reduced body weight loss, kidney dysfunction, and tubular injury in AA-induced nephrotoxicity in male mice. This study has demonstrated that testis causes AA-induced nephrotoxic acute kidney injury.
Keywords: acute kidney injury; aristolochic acid; nephrotoxicity; orchiectomy; ovariectomy; sex difference.