A novel pan-Nox inhibitor, APX-115, protects kidney injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice: possible role of peroxisomal and mitochondrial biogenesis

// Guideock Kwon 1, * , Md Jamal Uddin 1, * , Gayoung Lee 1 , Songling Jiang 1 , Ahreum Cho 1 , Jung Hwa Lee 1 , Sae Rom Lee 2 , Yun Soo Bae 2 , Sung Hwan Moon 3 , Soo Jin Lee 3 , Dae Ryong Cha 4 and Hunjoo Ha 1 1 Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea 2 Department of Life Science, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea 3 Aptabio Therapeutics Inc, Yongin-si, Korea 4 Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Nephrology, Korea University, Seoul, Korea * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: Hunjoo Ha, email: hha@ewha.ac.kr Keywords: APX-115, diabetic kidney disease, mitochondria and peroxisome, oxidative stress, pan-Nox inhibitor Received: March 24, 2017 Accepted: June 05, 2017 Published: June 16, 2017 ABSTRACT NADPH oxidase (Nox)-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS) are increasingly recognized as a key factor in inflammation and extracellular matrix accumulation in diabetic kidney disease. APX-115 (3-phenyl-1-(pyridin-2-yl)-4-propyl-1-5-hydroxypyrazol HCl) is a novel orally active pan-Nox inhibitor. The objective of this study was to compare the protective effect of APX-115 with a renin-angiotensin system inhibitor (losartan), the standard treatment against kidney injury in diabetic patients, on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic kidney injury. Diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of STZ at 50 mg/kg/day for 5 days in C57BL/6J mice. APX-115 (60 mg/kg/day) or losartan (1.5 mg/kg/day) was administered orally to diabetic mice for 12 weeks. APX-115 effectively prevented kidney injury such as albuminuria, glomerular hypertrophy, tubular injury, podocyte injury, fibrosis, and inflammation as well as oxidative stress in diabetic mice, similar to losartan. In addition, both APX-115 and losartan treatment effectively inhibited mitochondrial and peroxisomal dysfunction associated with lipid accumulation. Our data suggest that APX-115, a pan-Nox inhibitor, may become a novel therapeutic agent against diabetic kidney disease by maintaining peroxisomal and mitochondrial fitness.