Effect of volume expansion on renal citrate and ammonia metabolism in KCl-deficient rats

Cardiometabolic effects of DOCA-salt in male C57BL/6J mice are variably dependent on sodium and nonsodium components of diet

Hypertension characterized by low circulating renin activity accounts for roughly 25%-30% of primary hypertension in humans and can be modeled experimentally via deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA)-salt treatment. In this model, phenotypes develop in progressive phases, although the timelines and relative contributions of various mechanisms to phenotype development can be distinct between laboratories. To explore interactions among environmental influences such as diet formulation and dietary sodium (Na) content on phenotype development in the DOCA-salt paradigm, we examined an array of cardiometabolic endpoints in young adult male C57BL/6J mice during sham or DOCA-salt treatments when mice were maintained on several common, commercially available laboratory rodent "chow" diets including PicoLab 5L0D (0.39% Na), Envigo 7913 (0.31% Na), Envigo 2920x (0.15% Na), or a customized version of Envigo 2920x (0.4% Na). Energy balance (weight gain, food intake, digestive efficiency, and energy efficiency), fluid and electrolyte homeostasis (fluid intake, Na intake, fecal Na content, hydration, and fluid compartmentalization), renal functions (urine production rate, glomerular filtration rate, urine Na excretion, renal expression of renin, vasopressin receptors, aquaporin-2 and relationships among markers of vasopressin release, aquaporin-2 shedding, and urine osmolality), and blood pressure, all exhibited changes that were subject to interactions between diet and DOCA-salt. Interestingly, some of these phenotypes, including blood pressure and hydration, were dependent on nonsodium dietary components, as Na-matched diets resulted in distinct phenotype development. These findings provide a broad and robust illustration of an environment × treatment interaction that impacts the use and interpretation of a common rodent model of low-renin hypertension.

The potential role of salt abuse on the risk for kidney stone formation

The kidney stone-forming risk of a high sodium diet was evaluated by assessing the effect of such a diet on the crystallization of stone-forming salts in urine. Fourteen normal subjects participated in 2 phases of study of 10 days duration each, comprising a low sodium phase (basal metabolic diet containing 50 mmol. sodium per day) and a high sodium phase (basal diet plus 250 mmol. sodium chloride per day). The high sodium intake significantly increased urinary sodium (34 +/- 12 to 267 +/- 56 mmol. per day), calcium (2.73 +/- 1.03 to 3.93 +/- 1.51 mmol. per day) and pH (5.79 +/- 0.44 to 6.15 +/- 0.25), and significantly decreased urinary citrate (3.14 +/- 1.19 to 2.52 +/- 0.83 mmol. per day). Arterialized venous blood bicarbonate and total serum carbon dioxide concentrations decreased significantly during the high sodium diet, whereas serum chloride concentration increased. However, no change in arterialized venous pH was detected. Thus, a high sodium intake not only increased calcium excretion, but also increased urinary pH and decreased citrate excretion. The latter effects are probably due to sodium-induced bicarbonaturia and a significant decrease in serum bicarbonate concentration, respectively. Commensurate with these changes, the urinary saturation of calcium phosphate (brushite) and monosodium urate increased, and the inhibitor activity against calcium oxalate crystallization (formation product) decreased. The net effect of a high sodium diet was an increased propensity for the crystallization of calcium salts in urine.

The Drosophila Stubble-stubbloid gene encodes an apparent transmembrane serine protease required for epithelial morphogenesis

The Stubble-stubbloid (Sb-sbd) gene is required for hormone-dependent epithelial morphogenesis of imaginal discs of Drosophila, including the formation of bristles, legs, and wings. The gene has been cloned by using Sb-sbd-associated DNA lesions in a 20-kilobase (kb) region of a 263-kb genomic walk. The region specifies an approximately 3.8-kb transcript that is induced by the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone in imaginal discs cultured in vitro. The conceptually translated protein is an apparent 786-residue type II transmembrane protein (N terminus in, C terminus out), including an intracellular N-terminal domain of at least 35 residues and an extracellular C-terminal trypsin-like serine protease domain of 244 residues. Sequence analyses indicate that the Sb-sbd-encoded protease could activate itself by proteolytic cleavage. Consistent with the cell-autonomous nature of the Sb-sbd bristle phenotype, a disulfide bond between cysteine residues in the noncatalytic N-terminal fragment and the C-terminal catalytic fragment could tether the protease to the membrane after activation. Both dominant Sb and recessive sbd mutations affect the organization of microfilament bundles during bristle morphogenesis. We propose that the Sb-sbd product has a dual function. (i) It acts through its proteolytic extracellular domain to detach imaginal disc cells from extracellular matrices, and (ii) it transmits an outside-to-inside signal to its intracellular domain to modify the cytoskeleton and facilitate cell shape changes underlying morphogenesis.

Mechanism of volume expansion on citrate, ammonia, and acid excretion in the rat

Potassium-depleted rats receiving sodium chloride or i.v. mannitol decrease their blood bicarbonate concentration isohydrically, reduce urinary citrate, and increase urinary ammonia excretion per milligram of urinary creatinine. To determine the mechanisms of these renal changes, we volume expanded normal rats with mannitol, normal saline, or saline bicarbonate solutions. Blood pH in each group remained constant, but blood bicarbonate fell significantly in the mannitol and saline-infused rats. In these two groups, urinary citrate per unit GFR decreased 27% and 25% (P less than 0.01) but urinary ammonia excretion per unit GFR increased 120% and 90% (P less than 0.01). By contrast, in saline bicarbonate rats, citrate excretion increased 27% and urinary ammonia excretion rose 29% (P greater than 0.2). Rats with metabolic acidosis given saline did not alter blood pH or bicarbonate. Citrate excretion per unit GFR increased 150% (P less than 0.02) but urinary ammonia excretion rose insignificantly by 11%. Calculated net tubular reabsorption of citrate increased in the mannitol and saline-infused rats. The rise in urinary pH in these two groups during expansion suggest that renal ammonia production was also increased. We conclude that volume expansion changes renal citrate and ammonia metabolism by isohydrically reducing blood bicarbonate concentration, thereby demonstrating another effect of bicarbonate, independent of pH, on renal metabolism.