The Comparison of antifibrotic effects of mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine in the rats with unilateral uretral obstruction

ABSTRACT The comparison of antifibrotic effects of mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine in the rats with unilateral uretral obstruction. In our study, our aim is to investigate the antiproliferative and antifibrotic effects of mycophenolate mofetil and azathioprine in rats with unilateral ureteral obstruction. Fifty-nine adult male Wistar albino rats were subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction. The rats received either oral mycophenolate mofetil (15/mg/kg/day, N=19) or azathioprine (2/mg/kg/day, N=19) by daily gastric gavage. Twenty-one rats, which were subjected to unilateral ureteral obstruction, were enrolled as the control group. The obstructed kidneys were histological analyzed at 21st day (12 rats from the MMF group, 12 rats from the AZA group and 14 rats from the control group) and at 60th day (7 rats from each group) following the surgery of unilateral ureteral obstruction. Additional two rats were sham operated. The specimens were stained with TGF-J3, fibronectin and trichrome dye and then analyzed with counting method by using an ocular grid. The numbers of fibronectin and collagen stained areas were found significantly lower in treated groups than in the control group, but there was no significat difference in TGF-0 expression between the azathioprine treated group and the control group (p>0.05) at the 21st day of the surgery. TGF-P expression was found significantly lower in MMF group than in the azathioprine (p<0.01) and the control (p<0.000) groups. No significant difference was found in TGF-J3. and fibronectin expressions between treated and untreated groups at the 60th day after the surgery. But collagen expression was significantly lower in treated groups than in the untreated group at the 60th day (p<0.005). In conclusion, mycophenolate mofetil is more effective in preventing fibrosis than azathioprine in unilateral ureteral obstruction model in the short-term, but there is no significant antifibrotic effect of these drugs in the long-term obstruction. Key words: unilateral ureteral obstruction, mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprin and TGF-Jî VII