Ortega-Martínez Marta, Gopar-Cuevas Yareth, García-Aguilar Karol, Chávez-Briones María-De-Lourdes, Miranda-Maldonado Ivett, Ancer-Arellano Adriana, García-Juárez Jaime, Ancer-Rodríguez Jesús, Jaramillo-Rangel Gilberto
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo León 64460, Mexico.
Department of Histology, School of Medicine, Autonomous University of Nuevo León, Monterrey, Nuevo León 64460, Mexico.
Biomed Rep. 2025 Jul 21;23(3):155. doi: 10.3892/br.2025.2033. eCollection 2025 Sep.
The kidney undergoes changes during the lifespan of an individual, resulting in increased susceptibility to renal diseases in the elderly. The macula densa (MD) controls basic kidney functions, which deteriorate with aging. The present study for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, analyzed the relationship between cell proliferation and apoptosis (cell turnover) in the MD of mice through the normal aging process. Kidney specimens from CD1 mice aged 2, 6, 12, 18 or 24 months were fixed in neutral-buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. Tissue sections were immunostained to analyze cell proliferation, subjected to a TUNEL assay to evaluate apoptosis, or stained with hematoxylin and eosin to determine total cell number. A markedly dynamic cell turnover pattern was observed in the MD throughout the aging process, in which, when the number of proliferating cells increased, the number of apoptotic cells decreased and vice versa. However, there were no significant differences in the total cell number among the ages analyzed. Thus, other mechanisms may be involved in the deterioration of renal functions regulated by the MD in elderly people. Further research is required to determine these mechanisms, which could be the target of therapeutic strategies against age-related kidney diseases in the future.
在个体的生命周期中，肾脏会发生变化，导致老年人对肾脏疾病的易感性增加。致密斑（MD）控制着基本的肾脏功能，而这些功能会随着衰老而衰退。据我们所知，本研究首次分析了在正常衰老过程中小鼠致密斑中细胞增殖与凋亡（细胞更新）之间的关系。将2、6、12、18或24月龄的CD1小鼠的肾脏标本用中性缓冲福尔马林固定并石蜡包埋。组织切片进行免疫染色以分析细胞增殖，进行TUNEL检测以评估凋亡，或用苏木精和伊红染色以确定细胞总数。在整个衰老过程中，致密斑中观察到明显动态的细胞更新模式，即当增殖细胞数量增加时，凋亡细胞数量减少，反之亦然。然而，在所分析的各年龄组中，细胞总数没有显著差异。因此，可能有其他机制参与了老年人中由致密斑调节的肾功能衰退。需要进一步研究来确定这些机制，这些机制可能成为未来针对与年龄相关的肾脏疾病的治疗策略的靶点。
