Long non‐coding RNA Miat mediates cross-talk between the kidneys and hippocampus in the rat model of acute kidney injury

The role of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been intensively studied in the development of several human diseases. Myocardial infarction-associated transcript (Miat) is among the most abundant and highly conserved lncRNAs that exhibits deregulation in some critical diseases. However, it remains unclear whether Miat may also play a role in the pathogenesis of acute kidney injury (AKI) and neurological consequences.

In the present study, the expression of lncRNA Miat was measured in the rat kidney and hippocampus tissues to assess if there is an association between the expression of it and AKI. AKI was induced by clamping the bilateral renal artery for 45min and was confirmed 24 hours after reperfusion by biochemical markers and histopathological assessments in rat kidneys.

We observed an increasing trend of Miat expression (256-fold) in the kidney as well as the hippocampus (2-fold) following AKI.

It appears that there is a relationship between the deregulation of the Miat expression and AKI and the hippocampal involvement, although more studies are needed to confirm the functional effect of this lncRNA in AKI.