Plasma Kynurenine: A Promising Marker for the Assessment of Renal Functions.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a worldwide issue due to the high prevalence and the serious complications, including death. Kidney functions are routinely evaluated by measuring creatinine levels, which are influenced by many factors (age, sex, diet, race, and body mass). Kynurenine is the first stable metabolite in the kynurenine pathway, which is activated in the course of CKD.

Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors prevent trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced P-glycoprotein up-regulation in vitro and in vivo.

Failed medical therapy is a common problem in inflammatory bowel disease. P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an efflux pump encoded by MDR1 (ABCB1) gene can actively pump drugs out of cells conferring the phenotype of multidrug resistance. Various studies evoked that cyclooxygenase (COX) system may be involved in the regulation of P-gp activity.

Cyclooxygenase inhibitors down regulate P-glycoprotein in human colorectal Caco-2 cell line.

Purpose: Elevated expression of the ABC transporters P-glycoprotein (P-gp), and breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) seems to correlate with multidrug resistance of cancer cells. In this study we investigated the effect of COX inhibitors in modulating P-gp and BCRP expression and P-gp activity in Caco-2 cells.

Methods: mRNA and protein expression of MDR1 and BCRP were evaluated by real time PCR and western blot respectively.