Expression of c-Jun N-terminal kinases in renal tissue of murine chronic graft-versus-host disease lupus nephritis and the intervention of fluvastatin

This study was aimed to detect the expression of c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) in renal tissues of lupus nephritis (LN) mice with chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) and to investigate that LN could be intervened by fluvastatin at different doses through the inhibition of JNK expression.LN models with cGVHD in mice were established first，and then diseased mice were randomly divided into four groups：normal control，fluvastatin intervention at high-dose group (10 mg/kg)，fluvastatin intervention at low-dose group (5mg/kg) and models without treatment.After killing the mice sixteen weeks later，total urine protein of every mouse was determined by a Biuret colorimetric assay.The protein and mRNA levels of JNK and p-JNK in kidneys were measured by immunohistochemistry，Western blot and RT-PCR，respectively.Compared with normal control，otal urine protein，JNK and p-JNK expressions at both mRNA and protein levels were significantly increased in cGVHD group (P＜0.01），but their expressions were suppressed by fluvastatin treatment (P＜0.01).JNK may play an important role in the pathogenetic progress of LN in mice，and fluvastatin is able to prevent LN via inhibition of JNK expression in renal tissues in cGVHD mice.