Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one of the greatest health burdens with an increasing global prevalence. Renal fibrosis (RF) is the hallmark of all forms of CKD which shows a strong positive correlation with severity of the disease. However, there are no therapeutic options available for treatment of RF. In the present study, we used an animal model based on unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO), for renal injury and fibrosis. The UUO animals were treated with soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) stimulator, riociguat (RIO) (1, 3 and 10 mg/kg) to investigate its possible renoprotective effects. Kidneys of animals treated with RIO were found to show less abnormalities as compared to UUO control. Further, the levels of proinflammatory cytokines were reduced in RIO treated group. Furthermore, administration of RIO reduced expression of collagen-1, TGF-β, CTGF, α-SMA, vimentin along with transcription factors including Snail and Slug. The results of the present study provided strong evidence to support the antifibrotic activity of RIO.

随着全球患病率的增加，慢性肾脏病（CKD）是最大的健康负担之一。肾纤维化（RF）是所有形式的CKD的标志，其与疾病的严重程度呈强正相关。但是，没有用于治疗RF的治疗选择。在本研究中，我们使用了基于单侧输尿管阻塞（UUO）的动物模型来治疗肾脏损伤和纤维化。用可溶性鸟苷基环化酶（sGC）刺激剂riociguat（RIO）（1、3和10 mg / kg）处理UUO动物，以研究其可能的肾脏保护作用。与UUO对照相比，发现用RIO处理过的动物的肾脏显示出较少的异常。此外，RIO治疗组的促炎细胞因子水平降低。此外，给予RIO会降低胶原蛋白1，TGF-β，CTGF，α-SMA，波形蛋白以及包括Snail和Slug在内的转录因子。本研究的结果提供了有力的证据来支持RIO的抗纤维化活性。