Erythropoietin ameliorates podocyte injury in advanced diabetic nephropathy in the db/db mouse.

Erythropoietin ameliorates podocyte injury in advanced diabetic nephropathy in the db/db mouse. Am J Physiol Renal Physiol. 2013 Jul 3; Authors: Loeffler I, Ruester C, Franke S, Liebisch M, Wolf G Abstract Podocyte damage and accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) are characteristic of diabetic nephropathy (DN). The pathophysiology of AGE-challenged podocytes is closely related to the induction of cell cycle inhibitor p27(Kip1) and to the inhibition of neuropilin 1 (NRP1). We previously demonstrated that treatment with erythropoietin is associated with protective effects for podocytes in vitro. db/db mice with overt DN aged 15-16 weeks were treated with either placebo, or epoetin-β, or CERA (continuous erythropoietin receptor activator) for 2 weeks. db/db mice compared with non-diabetic db/m controls revealed the expected increases in body weight, blood glucose, albumin-to-creatinine ratio (ACR) and AGE-accumulation. Whereas no differences in body weight, hyperglycemia and AGEs were observed among the diabetic groups receiving epoetin-β resp, The ACR were significantly lower in db/db mice treated with epoetin-β or CERA. Furthermore, kidney weights in db/db mice were increased compared with the db/m controls indicating renal hypertrophy, whereas the increase in renal weight in epoetin-β- or CERA-treated db/db was significantly lower than in the placebo-treated controls. Induction of p27(Kip1) and suppression of NRP1 were sig...
Source: Am J Physiol Renal P... - Category: Urology & Nephrology Authors: Tags: Am J Physiol Renal Physiol Source Type: research