CASP3 and acute kidney injury: We observed that PDQ significantly attenuated CDDP-induced renal apoptosis and suppressed the protein expression of Bax, caspase-9, and caspase-3, and upregulated the level of Bcl-2, which illustrates that the caspase-mediated pathway may be another relevant mechanism underlying the protective actions of PDQ against CDDP-induced AKI.