# The Effect of Nerolidol on Renal Dysfunction following Bilateral Ureteral Obstruction
## 3 Results
### Gene Expression Analysis Results  
As illustrated in Figure 2, BUD caused a significant increase in the gene expression of KIM-1 and NGAL, as indicated by the comparison between G-BUO and the G-sham (145.1 \(\pm\) 32.1 vs. 1.1 \(\pm\) 0.2 (\(p\) < 0.001) and 18.5 \(\pm\) 3.7 vs. 1.0 \(\pm\) 0.1 (\(p\) < 0.05), respectively. Conversely, nerolidol treatment significantly mitigated this increase (73.1 \(\pm\) 13.2 vs. 145.1 \(\pm\) 32.1 and 9.1 vs. 18.5 \(\pm\) 3.7), respectively (\(p\) < 0.05 for both). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline  & & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**G-sham**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**G-BUO**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**G-BUO/NR**} \\ \cline{2-10}  & **Basal** & **Pre-BUO** & **Post-BUO** & **Basal** & **Pre-BUO** & **Post-BUO** & **Basal** & **Pre-BUO** & **Post-BUO** \\ \hline Serum & & & & & & & & & & \\ creatinine & 0.20 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.22 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.02 & 0.19 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.23 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.32 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\$}\) & 0.19 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.21 \(\pm\) 0.01 & 0.26 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\$}\) \\ (mg/dL) & & & & & & & & & \\ serum Urea & 46.9 \(\pm\) 1.3 & 44.7 \(\pm\) 1.7 & 43.5 \(\pm\) 2.8 & 48.0 \(\pm\) 1.2 & 44.6 \(\pm\) 1.2 & 56.5 \(\pm\) 1.7 \({}^{\$}\) & 45.9 \(\pm\) 2.9 & 45.5 \(\pm\) 1.9 & 50.2 \(\pm\) 1.1 \({}^{\$}\) \\ (mg/dL) & & & & & & & & & \\ creatinine & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 1.04 \(\pm\) 0.08 & 1.08 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 1.06 \(\pm\) 0.06 & 0.63 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\$}\) & 0.99 \(\pm\) 0.07 & 1.09 \(\pm\) 0.09 & 0.95 \(\pm\) 0.11 \({}^{\$}\) \\
100 gm b.w.) & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline Albumin & & & & & & & & & \\ creatinine & 13.8 \(\pm\) 1.9 & 11.4 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 14.1 \(\pm\) 1.5 & 15.9 \(\pm\) 2.6 & 12.0 \(\pm\) 1.5 & 180.0 \(\pm\) 34.0 \({}^{\$}\) & 15.0 \(\pm\) 4.1 & 11.8 \(\pm\) 2.7 & 73.5 \(\pm\) 18.9 \({}^{\$}\) \\ Ratio & & & & & & & & & \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: Renal functional parameters in all the groups; basal: before the start of treatment; pre-BUO: just prior to the intervention (BUO/sham surgery), and post-BUO: 3 days after reversal of BUO/sham surgery. The results represent mean \(\pm\) SEM; $ indicates statistical significance when compared to the sham group (G-sham); and * indicates statistical significance when compared to G-BUO. Figure 2: The gene expression of two of markers of acute renal injury (KIM-1 and NGAL) in all the groups. The values represent mean \(\pm\) SEM. A similar trend was observed with respect to pro-inflammatory cytokines (Figure 3). For example, ureteral obstruction caused a significant upregulation of the mRNA expression of TNF-\(\alpha\), PAI-I, IL-6, and IL-1\(\beta\) (2.22 \(\pm\) 0.47 vs. 1.03 \(\pm\) 0.11, 5.38 \(\pm\) 0.87 vs. 1.02 \(\pm\) 0.10, 10.35 \(\pm\) 1.42 vs. 1.00 \(\pm\) 0.21 and 1.55 \(\pm\) 0.07 vs. 0.99 \(\pm\) 0., respectively, \(p\) < 0.05 for all). Nerolidol treatment significantly attenuated these alterations in TNF-\(\alpha\), PAI-1, and IL-6 (1.14 \(\pm\) 0.18 vs. 2.22 \(\pm\) 0.47, 3.15 \(\pm\) 0.44 vs. 5.38 \(\pm\) 0.87, 6.49 \(\pm\) 0.54 vs. 10.35 \(\pm\) 1., respectively, \(p\) < 0.05 for all). It also mitigated the change in IL-1\(\beta\), but this did not reach statistical significance (1.18 \(\pm\) 0.18 vs. 1.55 \(\pm\) 0.07, \(p\) = 0.07). Bilateral ureteral obstruction has also caused a significant increase in the gene expression of some pro-apoptotic markers. For instance, the mRNA expression of p53 was significantly elevated in G-BUO compared to G-sham (1.38 \(\pm\) 0.05 vs. 0.98 \(\pm\) 0.03, \(p\) = 0.001) (Figure 4). Nerolidol significantly attenuated this upregulation (1.17 \(\pm\) 0.09 vs. 1.38 \(\pm\) 0.05, \(p\) < 0.05). A similar trend was observed with respect to oxidative stress markers (Figure 4). The mRNA expression of GSR was significantly higher in G-BUO compared to G-sham (1.21 \(\pm\) 0.07 vs. 0.92 \(\pm\) 0.06, \(p\) < 0.05) (Figure 5). Nerolidol significantly reduced the expression of GSR in G-BUO/NERO compared to G-BUO (0.97 \(\pm\) 0.06 vs. 1.21 \(\pm\) 0.07, \(p\) < 0.05).