Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, Mississippi.
Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2013 Sep 15;305(6):R559-65. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00528.2012. Epub 2013 Jul 24.
Emerging evidence supports a potential therapeutic role of relaxin in fibrotic diseases, including chronic kidney disease. Relaxin is a pleiotropic hormone, best characterized for its role in the reproductive system; however, recent studies have demonstrated a role of relaxin in the cardiorenal system. Both relaxin and its receptor, RXFP1, are expressed in the kidney, and relaxin has been shown to play a role in renal vasodilation, in sodium excretion, and as an antifibrotic agent. Together, these findings suggest that the kidney is a target organ of relaxin. Therefore, the purpose of this review is to describe the functional and structural impacts of relaxin treatment on the kidney and to discuss evidence that relaxin prevents disease progression in several experimental models of kidney disease. In addition, this review will present potential mechanisms that are involved in the therapeutic actions of relaxin.
新出现的证据支持松弛素在纤维化疾病中的潜在治疗作用,包括慢性肾脏病。松弛素是一种多功能激素,其在生殖系统中的作用最为突出;然而,最近的研究表明松弛素在心脏肾脏系统中也发挥作用。松弛素及其受体 RXFP1 在肾脏中均有表达,松弛素在肾脏血管舒张、钠排泄以及抗纤维化作用中发挥作用。这些发现表明肾脏是松弛素的靶器官。因此,本综述的目的是描述松弛素治疗对肾脏的功能和结构的影响,并讨论松弛素在几种肾脏疾病的实验模型中预防疾病进展的证据。此外,本综述将介绍参与松弛素治疗作用的潜在机制。