RESUMO
Starvation causes impairment in the urinary concentrating ability. The mechanism of this defect, however, remains unknown. We tested the possibility that food deprivation might affect the expression and activity of aquaporins (AQP1, 2), thereby impairing renal water reabsorption in the kidney. Rats fasted for 24 h exhibited severe polyuria (urine volume increased from 11 before fasting to 29 ml/24 h after fasting, P < 0.0001) along with failure to concentrate their urine (urine osmolality decreased from 1,485 before fasting to 495 mosmol/kgH(2)O after fasting, P < 0.0001). Refeeding for 24 h returned the urinary concentrating ability back to normal. Northern hybridization and immunoblot analysis demonstrated that fasting was associated with a decrease in AQP2 protein (-80%, P = 0.002) and mRNA levels (-69%, P = 0.003) in the outer medulla. In the cortex, fasting decreased AQP2 protein abundance by 60% (P = 0.004) but did not alter its mRNA expression. During the recovery phase, AQP2 expression returned to normal level in both tissues. In the inner medulla, the expression of AQP2 was not altered in fasting, but was increased significantly at both protein ( +/- 92%) and mRNA ( +/- 43%) levels during the recovery from fasting. The proximal nephron water channel (AQP1) was not affected in response to fasting or recovery from fasting. We conclude that 1) fasting impairs the urinary concentrating ability in rats, and 2) the renal water-handling defect in fasting results specifically from the downregulation of AQP2 in the cortical and outer medullary collecting duct.
Assuntos
Aquaporinas/metabolismo , Jejum/fisiologia , Rim/metabolismo , Poliúria/etiologia , Animais , Aquaporina 1 , Aquaporina 2 , Aquaporina 6 , Aquaporinas/genética , Água Corporal/metabolismo , Peso Corporal/fisiologia , Regulação para Baixo , Glucose/farmacologia , Hipoglicemia/complicações , Capacidade de Concentração Renal/fisiologia , Córtex Renal/metabolismo , Medula Renal/metabolismo , Masculino , Concentração Osmolar , RNA Mensageiro/metabolismo , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-Dawley , Urina/químicaRESUMO
The purpose of the present experiments was to examine the effect of potassium deprivation on the expression of the renal basolateral Na(+)-HCO(3)(-) cotransporter (NBC-1). Rats were placed on a K(+)-free diet for various time intervals and examined. NBC-1 mRNA levels increased by about threefold in the cortex (P < 0.04) at 72 h of K(+) deprivation and remained elevated at 21 days. NBC activity increased by approximately 110% in proximal tubule suspensions, with the activity increasing from 0.091 in control to 0.205 pH/min in the K(+)-deprived group (P < 0.005). The inner stripe of outer medulla and cells of medullary thick ascending limb of Henle (mTAL) showed induction of NBC-1 mRNA and activity in K(+)-deprived rats, with the activity in mTAL increasing from 0.010 in control to 0.133 pH/min in the K(+)-deprived group (P < 0.004). K(+) deprivation also increased NBC-1 mRNA levels in the renal papilla (P < 0.02). We conclude that 1) K(+) deprivation increases NBC-1 expression and activity in proximal tubule and 2) K(+) deprivation causes induction of NBC-1 expression and activity in mTAL tubule and inner medulla. We propose that NBC-1 likely mediates enhanced HCO(3)(-) reabsorption in proximal tubule, mTAL, and inner medullary collecting duct in K(+) deprivation and contributes to the maintenance of metabolic alkalosis in this condition.