Local anesthetic articaine ameliorates LPS‐induced acute kidney injury via inhibition of NF‐ĸB activation and the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway

Abstract The present study was conducted to determine the protective effect of articaine (ART) in an lipopolysaccharide (LPS)‐induced acute kidney injury (AKI) animal model. The results suggest ART causes a significant decrease in serum blood urea nitrogen, creatinine, and serum cystatin C level, showing a protective effect against LPS‐induced AKI. This has been further supported by histopathological findings of kidney tissues. The level of tumor necrosis factor‐α, interleukin (IL)‐6, and IL‐1β in serum and kidney tissues was remarkably inhibited by ART in a dose‐dependent manner. ART causes a significant reduction of malondialdehyde and increases the activities of glutathione and superoxide dismutase with an increase in dose as compared to the LPS‐treated group. Moreover, the ART‐treated group showed dose‐dependent inhibition of LPS‐induced nuclear factor‐κB activation and TLR4 expression as confirmed by Western blot analysis. The level of Bcl‐2 family genes (Bcl‐2 and Bax) was restored near to normal by ART. Collectively, all the above results indicated that ART had protective effects against LPS‐induced AKI by blocking inflammatory and oxidative responses.