Effect of primary polydipsia on aquaporin and sodium transporter abundance. (57/308)

Chronic primary polydipsia (POLY) in humans is associated with impaired urinary concentrating ability. However, the molecular mechanisms responsible for this finding have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of chronic primary POLY on water metabolism and renal aquaporin (AQP) water channels and sodium and urea transporter abundance in rats. Primary POLY was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats by daily administration of 15 g powdered rat chow mixed in 100 ml water for 10 days. Control rats (CTL) received 15 g powdered rat chow per day and ad libitum drinking water. Rats were studied following this period before further intervention and with a 36-h period of water deprivation to examine maximal urinary concentrating ability. At baseline, POLY rats demonstrated significantly greater water intake (100 +/- 1 vs. 22 +/- 2 ml/day, P < 0.0001) and urinary output (80 +/- 1 vs. 11 +/- 1 ml/day, P < 0.0001) and decreased urinary osmolality (159 +/- 13 vs. 1,365 +/- 188 mosmol/kgH2O, P < 0.001) compared with CTL rats. These findings were accompanied by decreased inner medulla AQP-2 protein abundance in POLY rats compared with CTL rats before water deprivation (76 +/- 2 vs. 100 +/- 7% CTL mean, P < 0.007). With water deprivation, maximal urinary osmolality was impaired in POLY vs. CTL rats (2,404 +/- 148 vs. 3,286 +/- 175 mosmol/kgH2O, P < 0.0005). This defect occurred despite higher plasma vasopressin concentrations and similar medullary osmolalities in POLY rats. In response to 36-h water deprivation, inner medulla AQP-2 protein abundance was decreased in POLY rats compared with CTL rats (65 +/- 5 vs. 100 +/- 5% CTL mean, P < 0.0006). No significant differences were noted in renal protein abundance of either AQP-3 or AQP-4 or sodium and urea transporters. We conclude that the impaired urinary concentrating ability associated with primary POLY in rats is due to impaired osmotic equilibration in the collecting duct that is mediated primarily by decreased AQP-2 protein abundance.  (+info)

Effects of high altitude and water deprivation on arginine vasopressin release in men. (58/308)

High-altitude exposure changes the distribution of body water and electrolytes. Arginine vasopressin (AVP) may influence these alterations. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a 24-h water deprivation trial (WDT) on AVP release after differing altitude exposures. Seven healthy males (age 22 +/- 1 yr, height 176 +/- 2 cm, mass 75.3 +/- 1.8 kg) completed three WDTs: at sea level (SL), after acute altitude exposure (2 days) to 4,300 m (AA), and after prolonged altitude exposure (20 days) to 4,300 m (PA). Body mass, standing and supine blood pressures, plasma osmolality (Posm), and plasma AVP (PAVP) were measured at 0, 12, 16, and 24 h of each WDT. Urine volume was measured at each void throughout testing. Baseline Posm increased from SL to altitude (SL 291.7 +/- 0.8 mosmol/kgH2O, AA 299.6 +/- 2.2 mosmol/kgH2O, PA 302.3 +/- 1.5 mosmol/kgH2O, P < 0.05); however, baseline PAVP measurements were similar. Despite similar Posm values, the maximal PAVP response during the WDT (at 16 h) was greater at altitude than at SL (SL 1.7 +/- 0.5 pg/ml, AA 6.4 +/- 0.7 pg/ml, PA 8.7 +/- 0.9 pg/ml, P < 0.05). In conclusion, hypoxia appeared to alter AVP regulation by raising the osmotic threshold and increasing AVP responsiveness above that threshold.  (+info)

Further characterization of the natriuretic factor derived from kidney tissue of volume-expanded rats. Effects on short-circuit current and sodium-potassium-adenosine triphosphatase activity. (59/308)

Boiled homogenates of kidneys from volume-expanded and hydropenic rats were subjected to column chromatography. The fraction eluting within the range of partition coefficients (Kav) 0.76-0.89 (fraction III) was lyophilized and the effects of this semipurified preparation were assessed on short-circuit current (SCC) across isolated frog skin, on rat kidney cortex Na-K-ATPase activity, and on sodium excretion by the rat in vivo. At a dose of 500 mug/ml, fraction III from expanded rat kidney inhibited SCC by 21 +/- 5% (P less than 0.01), whereas the same fraction from hydropenic rat kidney produced an insignificant change in SCC of 2 +/- 8 %. In a dose-response study, 50, 150, 500, and 1,500 mug/ml of fraction III from expanded rat kidney inhibited SCC by 4, 8, 19, and 28%, respectively; 500, 1,000 and 1,500 mug/ml inhibited Na-K-ATPase activity by 11, 22, and 49%, respectively. An identical study with fraction III from hydropenic animals showed no significant effect in either assay. Also, fractions from expanded and hydropenic rats, eluted after fraction III (fractions IV and V), had no effect on SCC or Na-K-ATPase activity. Fraction III also produced significant natriuresis in vivo at a dose of 500 mug/ml, confirming our observations that a natriuretic principle may be recovered from the kidneys of volume-expanded rats. We suggest that this natriuretic principle may act by reducing active sodium transport via inhibition of Na-K-ATPase.  (+info)

Central alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated pressor response to clonidine in conscious, spontaneously hypertensive rats. (60/308)

Pressor responses to intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) injection of clonidine were investigated in conscious spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar Kyoto rats (WKY). Clonidine (1-10 micrograms, i.c.v.) caused a dose-dependent pressor response and decrease in heart rate in both SHR and WKY. In SHR, low doses (1, 2.5 micrograms) but not high doses (5, 10 micrograms) of i.c.v.-clonidine induced a depressor response following the pressor response. Both pressor and depressor responses to i.c.v.-clonidine were significantly greater in SHR than in WKY. In both SHR and WKY, pressor responses to i.c.v.-clonidine were abolished by pentobarbital anesthesia, pretreatment with i.v.-furosemide (5 mg/kg), 24-hr water deprivation and pretreatment with i.c.v.-yohimbine (100 micrograms), but not by pretreatment with i.v.-yohimbine (100 micrograms) and i.c.v.-prazosin (10 micrograms). On the 1st day after surgery for arterial catheter implantation, SHR reduced their water intake, and i.c.v.-clonidine (5 micrograms) caused a slight pressor response, whereas the same dose of clonidine on the 7th day after surgery resulted in a marked pressor response. These results suggest that clonidine caused a central alpha 2-adrenoceptor-mediated pressor response, which is greater in SHR than in WKY and is sensitive to body fluid volume changes and anesthesia.  (+info)

Excitatory amino acids in rostral ventrolateral medulla support blood pressure during water deprivation in rats. (61/308)

Water deprivation is associated with regional increases in sympathetic tone, but whether this is mediated by changes in brain stem regulation of sympathetic activity is unknown. Therefore, this study tested the hypothesis that water deprivation increases excitatory amino acid (EAA) drive of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), by determining whether bilateral microinjection of kynurenate (Kyn; 2.7 nmol) into the RVLM decreases arterial pressure more in water-deprived than water-replete rats. Plasma osmolality was increased in 48-h water-deprived rats (313 +/- 1 mosmol/kgH2O; P < 0.05) compared with 24-h water-deprived rats (306 +/- 2 mosmol/kgH2O) and water-replete animals (300 +/- 2 mosmol/kgH2O). Kyn decreased arterial pressure by 28.1 +/- 5.2 mmHg (P < 0.01) in 48-h water-deprived rats but had no effect in water-replete rats (-5.9 +/- 1.3 mmHg). Variable depressor effects were observed in 24-h water-deprived animals (-12.5 +/- 2.4 mmHg, not significant); however, in all rats the Kyn depressor response was strongly correlated to the osmolality level (P < 0.01; r2 = 0.47). The pressor responses to unilateral microinjection of increasing doses (0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 5.0 nmol) of glutamate were enhanced (P < 0.05) during water deprivation, but the pressor responses to intravenous phenylephrine injection were smaller (P < 0.05). These data suggest that water deprivation increases EAA drive to the RVLM, in part by increasing responsiveness of the RVLM to EAA such as glutamate.  (+info)

Evidence for a role of protein kinase C-alpha in urine concentration. (62/308)

In mouse kidney, the conventional protein kinase C (PKC) isoenzyme alpha is expressed in glomeruli, the cortical collecting duct (intercalated cells only), and medullary collecting duct. To get insights on its function, PKC-alpha knockout (-/-) and wild-type (+/+) mice were studied. When provided free access to water, PKC-alpha -/- mice showed approximately 50% greater urine flow rate and lower urinary osmolality in 24-h metabolic cage experiments despite a greater urinary vasopressin-to-creatinine ratio vs. PKC-alpha +/+ mice. Renal albumin excretion was not different. Clearance experiments under inactin/ketamine anesthesia revealed a modestly reduced glomerular filtration rate and showed a reduced absolute and fractional renal fluid reabsorption in PKC-alpha -/- mice. The sodium-restricting response to a low-sodium diet was unaffected in PKC-alpha -/- mice. Urinary osmolality was reduced to similar hypotonic levels in PKC-alpha -/- and +/+ mice during acute oral water loading or application of the vasopressin V(2)-receptor antagonist SR-121463. In comparison, the lower urinary osmolality observed in PKC-alpha -/- mice vs. wild-type mice under basal conditions persisted during water restriction for 36 h. In conclusion, PKC-alpha appears not to play a major role in renal sodium reabsorption but, consistent with its expression in the medullary collecting duct, contributes to urinary concentration in mice. Considering that PKC-beta I and -beta II are coexpressed with PKC-alpha in mouse medullary collecting duct, the present results indicate that conventional PKC isoenzymes cannot fully compensate for each other.  (+info)

Upregulation of collecting duct aquaporin-2 by metabolic acidosis: role of vasopressin. (63/308)

Metabolic acidosis is associated with alteration in fluid and electrolyte reabsorption in a number of nephron segments. However, the effects of metabolic acidosis on urine osmolality and aquaporin-2 (AQP-2) remain poorly understood. In these studies, we examined the effects of chronic metabolic acidosis on water handling by the kidney. Rats were placed in metabolic cages and subjected to water (control) or 280 mM NH(4)Cl loading for 120 h to induce metabolic acidosis. The results indicated a significant increase in urine osmolality with no change in urine volume or urinary Na(+) excretion in acid-loaded animals. This effect was independent of alteration in fluid intake or salt/Cl(-) loading. Immunoblotting and Northern hybridization studies indicated that AQP-2 protein abundance and mRNA expression levels increased significantly along the collecting duct system of NH(4)Cl-but not NaCl-loaded animals. RIA results indicated that metabolic acidosis was associated with a fourfold increase in circulating levels of vasopressin (AVP) and a significant increase in brain AVP mRNA expression levels. In conclusion, metabolic acidosis upregulates the expression levels of AQP-2 and increases urine osmolality, suggesting an adaptive increase in water reabsorption in the collecting duct. A concomitant increase in AVP synthesis and secretion likely plays an essential role in the adaptation of AQP-2 in metabolic acidosis.  (+info)

The anxiolytic-like activity of AIDA (1-aminoindan-1,5-dicarboxylic acid), an mGLu 1 receptor antagonist. (64/308)

In the present study we examined the effects of 1-aminoindan-1,5-dicarboxylic acid (AIDA), regarded as a selective and competitive mGluR1 antagonist, in animal models of anxiety. Diazepam (1-10 mg/kg) was used as a reference drug. After intraperitoneal administration, AIDA (0.5-2 mg/kg) produced anxiolytic-like effects in the conflict drinking test and the elevated plus-maze test in rats; however, in doses up to 8 mg/kg, it was inactive in the four-plate test in mice. AIDA tested at the effective doses in the conflict drinking test changed neither the treshold current nor water intake in rats compared to vehicle treatment. AIDA (in a dose of 4 mg/kg, but not lower) increased the exploratory locomotor activity of rats measured in the open-field test, but it did not disturb rat motor coordination in the rota-rod test. The above results indicate that selective mGluR1 antagonist AIDA induces antianxiety-like effects at a low risk of acute side effects characteristic of benzodiazepines. Further studies are required to identify the sites and the mechanism of action of AIDA.  (+info)