Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MS) is an independent risk factor for chronic kidney diseases. As the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) is known to have a key role in renal damage, blockade of RAS may show renoprotective effects in MS. In this study, we investigated the renoprotective effects and mechanisms of action of an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) in spontaneously hypertensive (SHR/NDmcr-cp) rats as a model of MS. Male SHR/NDmcr-cp rats at 9 weeks of age were divided into three groups, each of which was treated for 12 weeks with vehicle, hydralazine (7.5 mg kg(-1) per day, p.o.) or ARB (olmesartan, 5 mg kg(-1) per day, p.o.). Blood pressure and urinary protein (UP) excretion were monitored. Kidney tissues were subjected to histological, immunohistochemical and molecular analyses. UP excretion increased with age in vehicle-treated SHR/NDmcr-cp rats compared with that in age-matched WKY/Izm rats. In addition, there was significant glomerular damage (increased glomerular sclerosis index, desmin staining and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells, electron microscopic findings of podocyte injury) and tubulointerstitial damage (increased tubulointerstitial fibrosis index, type IV collagen staining, PCNA-positive cells and expression of TGF-beta mRNA) in vehicle-treated SHR/NDmcr-cp rats compared with that in control rats. All the findings that related to glomerular and tubulointerstitial damage were significantly improved by ARB. Hydralazine mitigated the observed renal damage but was much less effective than ARB, despite similar decreases in blood pressure. There were no significant differences in glucose and lipid metabolism among vehicle-treated, hydralazine-treated and ARB-treated SHR/NDmcr-cp animals. These data suggest that RAS is deeply involved in the pathogenesis of renal damage in MS, and ARBs could provide a powerful renoprotective regimen for patients with MS.
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