Nephrotoxicity tests with sensor-integrated kidney-on-chip platforms
2021
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
The study describes a model of vascularized human kidney spheroids with integrated tissue-embedded microsensors for oxygen, glucose, lactate, and glutamine, providing real-time assessment of cellular metabolism. The model shows that both the immunosuppressive drug cyclosporine and the anticancer drug cisplatin disrupt proximal tubule polarity at subtoxic concentrations, leading to glucose accumulation and lipotoxicity. Impeding glucose reabsorption using glucose transport inhibitors blocked cyclosporine and cisplatin toxicity by 1000- to 3-fold, respectively. Retrospective study of 247 patients who were diagnosed with kidney damage receiving cyclosporine or cisplatin in combination with the sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor empagliflozin showed significant (P < 0.001) improvement of kidney function, as well as a reduction in creatinine and uric acid, markers of kidney damage. These results demonstrate the potential of sensor-integrated kidney-on-chip platforms to elucidate mechanisms of action and rapidly reformulate effective therapeutic solutions, increasing drug safety and reducing the cost of clinical and commercial failures.
Mechanism and reversal of drug-induced nephrotoxicity on a chip
Yaakov Nahmias
Added on: 03-22-2021
[1] https://stm.sciencemag.org/content/13/582/eabd6299[2] https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/298091