The Synthetic Pentasaccharide, Fondaparinux, Reduces Inflammation and Neutrophil Accumulation in Kidney Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury.

Acute inflammatory diseases are often accompanied by coagulation activation leading to local thrombotic complications and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Recent studies support the concept of crosstalk between coagulation and inflammation. The synthetic pentasaccharide, fondaparinux, is a selective antithrombin-dependent inhibitor of coagulation factor Xa. In this study, we investigated the effect of fondaparinux in a lethal murine model of kidney ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury that is associated with coagulation and inflammation. Fondaparinux treatment of I/R-injured mice significantly reduced serum creatinine levels and increased survival from 0 to 44% compared with saline treated control mice. In contrast, depletion of fibrinogen with ancrod was not protective, suggesting that fondaparinux may have additional properties beyond its anticoagulant activity. Indeed, fondaparinux significantly reduced IL-6 and MIP-2 expression but did not reduce MCP-1 expression. Furthermore, fondaparinux significantly decreased neutrophil accumulation in the injured kidneys. Finally, we showed that fondaparinux reduced recruitment of neutrophils into the peritoneum in a model of acute peritonitis and inhibited the binding of U937 cells to P-selectin in vitro. Our data indicate that fondaparinux has both anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory activity reducing fibrin deposition and blocking the binding of inflammatory cells to activated endothelium. Fondaparinux may be useful in the treatment of acute inflammatory diseases.