Acute kidney injury following acute pancreatitis (AP-AKI) is one of the most fatal complications caused by acute pancreatitis (AP). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) in circulating blood are believed to be crucial to the process of AP-AKI, but the mechanisms are still unclear. In this study, we first constructed an AP-AKI rat model by retrograde sodium taurocholate through the pancreatic duct and then injected circulating blood-derived EVs into AP-AKI rats. Measurements of peripheral blood creatinine and urea nitrogen levels showed that EVs could add to kidney injury in AP-AKI rats. By analyzing the levels of renal Fe2+, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4), we also found that extracted EVs could aggravate renal tubular ferroptosis in AP-AKI rats. Using high-throughput sequencing, we screened for high expression of EV miR-150-3P in AP-AKI patients. In vitro, we found that overexpressed miR-150-3P can influence MDA, Fe2+, lipid peroxide and GSH levels in HK-2 cells and ultimately aggravate ferroptosis. Next, through a dual-luciferase assay, we confirmed that miR-150-3p could exacerbate ferroptosis by directly targeting ferritin heavy chain 1 (FTH1). Finally, in AP-AKI rats, we again demonstrated that overexpression of miR-150-3P exacerbated renal ferroptosis through the miR-150-3P/FTH1 axis. Collectively, these findings provide new avenues to explore the mechanisms of the onset and exacerbation of AP-AKI.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.