The NLRP3 Inflammasome Promotes Renal Inflammation and Contributes to CKD

Inflammation significantly contributes to the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Inflammasome-dependent cytokines, such as IL-1 beta and IL-18, play a role in CKD, but their regulation during renal injury is unknown. Here, we analyzed the processing of caspase-1, IL-1 beta, and IL-18 after unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) in mice, which suggested activation of the NIrp3 inflammasome during renal injury. Compared with wild-type mice, NIrp3(-/-) mice had less tubular injury, inflammation, and fibrosis after UUO, associated with a reduction in caspase-1 activation and maturation of IL-1 beta and IL-18; these data confirm that the NIrp3 inflammasome upregulates these cytokines in the kidney during injury. Bone marrow chimeras revealed that NIrp3 mediates the injurious/inflammatory processes in both hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cellular compartments. In tissue from human renal biopsies, a wide variety of nondiabetic kidney diseases exhibited increased expression of NLRP3 mRNA, which correlated with renal function. Taken together, these results strongly support a role for NLRP3 in renal injury and identify the inflammasome as a possible therapeutic target in the treatment of patients with progressive CKD.