Dioscin-loaded zein nanoparticles alleviate lipopolysaccharide-induced acute kidney injury via the microRNA-let 7i signalling pathways.

The present study investigates the potential role of dioscin (DIO) in the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced kidney injury. For this purpose, DIO-loaded zein nanoparticles (DIO-ZNPs) were formulated and evaluated for physicochemical parameters. The DIO-ZNPs exhibited a controlled release of drug compared with that of the free drug suspension. Results showed that the cell viability of NRK-52E consistently decreased with the increase in LPS from 0.01 µg/ml to 2 µg/ml. When compared with LPS, DIO-induced NPs showed 1.10-, 1.32-, 1.57- and 1.92-fold increase in the cell viability for concentrations of 20 µg/ml, 50 µg/ml, 100 µg/ml and 200 µg/ml, respectively. DIO-ZNPs exhibited the most remarkable recovery in the cell proliferation compared with free DIO as shown by the cellular morphology analysis. Furthermore, Annexin-V staining analysis showed that the LPS-treated cells possess the lowest green fluorescence indicating fewer viable cells, whereas DIO-ZNPs exhibited the maximum green fluorescence comparable with that of the non-treated cells indicating maximum cell viability. Furthermore, the results show that DIO-ZNPs significantly increased the expression of miR-let-7i in the epithelial kidney cells, whereas the expression levels of TLR4 were significantly downregulated compared with that of the LPS-treated cells. In conclusion, miR-let-7i could be an interesting therapeutic target and nanoparticle-based DIO could be a potential candidate in the management of acute kidney injury.