Backgrounds: Conventional models of acute kidney injury due to ischemia-reperfusion of renal artery require opening the abdomen and clipping the renal artery for ischemia. We developed a method of noninvasive ischemia-reperfusion of the left renal artery after the animal's general condition had recovered by placing a vascular cuff occluder in the left renal artery at the operation of right nephrectomy.
 
Materials and methods: After removal of the right kidney of a male cynomolgus monkey, a vascular cuff occluder was implanted in the left renal artery. One week after placement of the cuff occluder, the cuff was inflated via catheter and renal artery was ischemic for 90 minutes, and then the cuff was deflated to resume blood flow. Ultrasonography also confirmed the cessation and resumption of blood flow. A total of four 60- or 90-min ischemia-reperfusion were performed at 2-week intervals. The plasma BUN and Cre were measured before ischemia and after reperfusion.
 
Results and discussion: In a 60-minute ischemia-reperfusion study, Cre increased from a pre value; 0.89 mg/dL to 1.40 mg/dL at 6 hours after reperfusion, and BUN increased from a pre value;32.9 mg/dL to 46.2 mg/dL at 6 hours after reperfusion. In the 90-minute ischemia-reperfusion studies, mean Cre increased from a pre value; 1.01 mg/dL to 2.05 mg/dL at 6 or 24 hours after reperfusion, and mean BUN increased from a pre value; 36.0 mg/dL to 66.2 mg/dL at 24 hours after reperfusion.
Our study allowed noninvasive and repeatable modeling of acute kidney injury due to the ischemia-reperfusion of the renal artery.