Role of Ammonia in the Induction of Renal Hypertrophy

Abstract

Recent experiments from our laboratory have documented the importance of ammonia as a modulator of renal cell growth in vitro. Ammonia induces renal hypertrophy by increasing the rate of protein synthesis and decreasing the rate of protein degradation. These results have led to the hypothesis that an increase in renal ammoniagenesis contributes to renal growth in several seemingly unrelated clinical disorders. In chronic hypokalemia and metabolic acidosis, mitochondrial ammoniagenesis is stimulated directly. During protein loading, uninephrectomy, and diabetes mellitus, renal ammoniagenesis may be stimulated by an increase in single-nephron glomerular filtration rate (SNGFR).