Fig. 1

Adenine-induced chronic kidney disease (CKD) mouse model. A Experimental timeline. Aged (17 months) C57BL/6J mice were placed on a diet containing 0.2% adenine for 18 days, followed by 2 weeks of regular diet, and then re-exposed to 0.2% adenine-containing diet for 1 week to maintain CKD induction. Mice were terminated 2 weeks after the second adenine exposure was completed. B, C Mice with adenine-induced CKD showed significantly higher serum creatinine levels (mg/dL) in both males and females compared with control (CTL) mice. D, E Serum cystatin C (mg/L) was elevated in CKD animals and F correlated closely with serum creatinine. G Systolic and diastolic blood pressure (mmHg) were assessed prior to initial CKD induction (Baseline) and termination (Final) using the non-invasive tail-cuff technique. H Representative photomicrographs of kidney H&E from CTL and CKD mice. CKD animals demonstrated interstitial inflammation and tubular injury. I Representative photomicrographs of kidney Masson’s trichrome staining from CTL and CKD animals. CTL mice demonstrated some collagen deposition (blue) around arterioles (normal finding). J CKD animals had increased parenchymal fibrosis (blue) consistent with chronic injury. Scale bar = 200 μm. Data shown are mean ± SEM. n = 15–17 per sex per group. **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001 and ****p < 0.0001