Rodríguez-López A M, Flores O, Arévalo M A, López-Novoa J M
Instituto Reina Sofía de Investigación Nefrológica, Departamento de Fisiología y Farmacología, Salamanca, Spain.
Kidney Int Suppl. 1998 Dec;68:S36-40. doi: 10.1046/j.1523-1755.1998.06810.x.
We studied renal function, glomerular cell proliferation and apoptosis for three months after uninephrectomy (UNX) in young, male, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). Apoptosis was assessed by in situ dUTP biotin nick-end labeling method (TUNEL) and by propidium iodide staining. Proliferation rate was determined by immunohistochemistry to proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). Glomerular bcl-2 expression was assessed by Northern blot analysis. Our results indicate a parallel increase in proliferation and in apoptotic rates in glomerular cells from the first to the second month after UNX. In the third month after UNX, PCNA-labeled cell number continues increasing, whereas TUNEL-labeled cells did not increase. Bcl-2 expression was negative in the first and second months and increased in the third month. Glomerular size and proteinuria increased progressively along the three months of follow-up. Our observations demonstrate a different profile of cell proliferation and apoptosis during the genesis of early glomerular damage in UNX-SHR.
