Nephrotoxicity induced by cisplatin is primarily due to the activation of the 5-hydroxytryptamine degradation system in proximal renal tubules.

As a widely used anticancer drug in the clinic, cisplatin has obvious side effects, especially nephrotoxicity. Previous studies have suggested that the accumulation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a hallmark of cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between ROS accumulation induced by cisplatin and 5-HT degradation. In vivo, by HE and TUNEL staining, we found that cisplatin-induced renal lesions and apoptotic regions, which were located in proximal tubular epithelial cells, were also the regions in which tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (Tph1), aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC), 5-HT receptor (5-HTR) and monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) were overexpressed, as determined by immunohistochemistry. Notably, the 5-HTR antagonist sarpogrelate hydrochloride (SH) and the AADC inhibitor carbidopa (CDP) significantly attenuated cisplatin-induced increases in serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels, renal ROS levels, oxidative stress (SOD activity and MDA), proinflammatory cytokine levels (NF-κB, TNF-α and IL-1β), proapoptotic factor levels (Bax, Bcl-2, C-caspase 3 and C-caspase 9) and the phosphorylation of p38 and STAT3, as well as renal lesions and apoptosis. The combination of SH and CDP could almost abolish the effects of cisplatin challenge. In vitro, the effects of cisplatin challenge and the inhibitory effects of SH and CDP were also observed in HK-2 cells. Additionally, similar to the combination of SH and CDP, the MAO-A inhibitor clorgyline could also abolish the effects of cisplatin challenge. More importantly, by western blotting, we detected that the upregulation of Tph1, AADC and MAO-A expression induced by cisplatin both in vivo and in vitro could be obviously suppressed by SH to decrease 5-HT synthesis and mitochondrial 5-HT degradation. Altogether, these findings suggested that cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity is due to the activation of the 5-HT degradation system in proximal tubular epithelial cells, including 5-HTR and 5-HT synthesis and degradation. 5-HTR plays a role by mediating the expression of MAO-A and the 5-HT synthases Tph1 and AADC.