Abstract: At present, acute kidney injury (AKI) has become the most important renal disease in canine, especially in the elderly canine with an increasing incidence year by year. Acupuncture therapy has been widely used in pet clinic in recent years, and has gradually developed from treating paralysis and other surgical diseases to treating pet medical diseases. In this study, adenine was used as the modeling drug to establish the dog model of acute kidney injury, and electroacupuncture was used to treat it. To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on kidney function, calcium and phosphorus metabolism, antioxidant capacity and NRF2 pathway related proteins in dogs, and to explore the therapeutic effect of EA on acute kidney injury in dogs. Twenty-four healthy beagles (3-4 kg) were randomly divided into control group, model group, conventional treatment group, EA intervention group, EA treatment group and combined treatment group. The 1st to 15th day for the modeling period, and the 16th to 30th day for the treatment period. After trial period, the changes of urine specific gravity, serum urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CREA), uric acid (UA), calcium (Ca²⁺) and phosphorus (P³⁺) were detected. Imaging diagnosis X-ray detection of renal changes; SOD and MDA in serum and kidney were detected. The severity of renal tissue lesion was observed by histopathology. qRT-PCR and WB were used to detect the expression of antioxidation-related genes and proteins in renal tissues of experimental dogs. The distribution of antioxidant-related proteins in renal tissues was detected by immunohistochemistry. Here, we found that urine proportion increased after electroacupuncture intervention. Serum biochemical results showed that compared with adenine model group, BUN, CRE, UA, Ca²⁺ significantly increased, P³⁺ significantly decreased in serum after electroacupuncture treatment. X-ray results showed that kidney size decreased after electroacupuncture treatment. SOD activity in blood and kidney tissue were significantly increased, while MDA content decreased significantly. The results of HE staining showed that the edema degree of renal tubular epithelial cells was reduced, necrosis and vacuolar degeneration were also significantly improved after electroacupuncture treatment. qRT-PCR and WB results showed that KEAP1 gene and protein expression were up-regulated and NRF2, HO-1, NQO1 gene and protein expression were down-regulated in the modeling group compared with the blank group. Compared with the modeling group, the expressions of KEAP1 gene and protein were down-regulated in all treatment groups, while the expressions of NRF2, HO-1 and NQO1 gene and protein were up-regulated. The changes of KEAP1 gene and protein expression in the combined treatment group were more obvious than those in the other treatment groups. The changes of NRF2 protein expression in electroacupuncture intervention group were more obvious than those in other treatment groups.Electroacupuncture therapy can relieve the symptoms of acute kidney injury and kidney damage in dogs. Among them, electroacupuncture combined with conventional therapy has a better therapeutic effect on acute kidney injury, and its therapeutic effect is better than electroacupuncture alone or symptomatic treatment alone.

Key words: canine, acute kidney injury, Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine, electroacupuncture therapy, NRF2 pathway