Propofol attenuates renal ischemia/reperfusion injury by regulating the MALAT1/miR-126-5p axis

Background Propofol (PPF) plays a protective role in ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) in multiple organs, including renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (RIRI). The present study aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms by which PPF exerts its protective functions in RIRI. Methods BALB/c mice were employed for the construction of RIRI animal model. PPF pre-treatment was carried out before I/R. An in vitro I/R model was established with HK-2 cells after hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) culture, and PPF was utilized to treat the cells before H/R. A quantitative-polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was conducted to detect long non-coding RNA metastasis-associated lung adenocarcinoma transcript 1 (MALAT1) and miR-126-5p expression levels. Flow cytometry was adopted to detect the apoptosis of HK-2 cells. Bioinformatics analysis, qPCR, a luciferase reporter gene experiment and a RNA immunoprecipitation experiment were used to determine the regulatory relationship between MALAT1 and miR-126-5p. The expression level of vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) was examined by western blotting. Results MALAT1 expression was augmented and miR-126-5p was decreased in RIRI models. PPF pre-treatment remarkably reduced creatinine and urea nitrogen levels in the serum of BALB/c mice with RIRI, and diminished the apoptosis of HK-2 cells treated with H/R. In addition, PPF pre-treatment markedly restrained the expression of MALAT1 in both in vivo and in vitro models and up-regulated miR-126-5p expression. MALAT1 could adsorb miR-126-5p to repress it and up-regulate VEGFA. MALAT1 overexpression reversed the protective effects of PPF on RIRI. Conclusions PPF protects the kidney against RIRI by inhibiting MALAT1 and up-regulating miR-126-5p expression, as well as indirectly inhibiting the expression of VEGFA.