Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether erythropoietin (EPO) attenuates rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress associated proteins. METHODS: Healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into four group: control group (n=6), acute kidney injury group (AKI，n=18)，AKI+EPO group (n=18), CN+EPO group (n=18), AKI group, AKI+EPO group and CN+EPO group based oninjection time is divided into three subgroups, 1, 6 and 24h groups of six rats. All animals were sacrificed on thire each time. Blood samples and kidney tissues were collected to evaluate blood urea nitrogen (BUN) , serum creatinine （SCr）and plasma Mb. The expression of GRP78 and CHOP was detected by immunohistochemistry and fluorescence quantitative RT-PCR. RESULTS: Compared with control group, significant increases in the levels of SCr, BUN and Mb were observed in AKI group and AKI+EPO group（P<0.05）. The over-expression of AKI-induced GRP78 and CHOP was suppressed by EPO（P<0.05）. CONCLUSION: AKI activates UPR in renal tubular epithelial cells. EPO has a protective effect on the kidneys with rhabdomyolysis-induced acute kidney injury, which may be related to the regulation of UPR-induced apoptosis.

Key words: erythropoietin, rhabdomyolysis, acute kidney injury, GRP78, CHOP