Astaxanthin alleviates renal damage of rats on high fructose diet through modulating NFκB/SIRT1 pathway and mitigating oxidative stress.

This study was conducted to determine the effect of astaxanthin (ASX) treatment on alleviation of renal damage in high fructose induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Treatments were arranged in a 2 × 2 factorial fashion: administrations of fructose (30%, via drinking water) and ASX (1 mg/kg/day, within 0.2 ml olive oil) for 8 weeks. Data were analyzed by two-way ANOVA. The ASX treatment decreased serum urea ( < .01) and blood urea-N concentrations ( < .02) at a lower extent in rats receiving fructose than those not receiving fructose. Moreover, the ASX treatment reversed the increases in malondialdehyde (MDA) ( < .0001) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) ( < .0003) levels and the decreases in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity ( < .0001) and sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) level ( < .0004), in the kidney upon high fructose consumption. The data suggest that ASX supplementation alleviates renal damage induced by high fructose consumption through modulating NF-κB/SIRT1 pathway and mitigating oxidative stress.