Low-dose hydralazine reduces albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis in a mouse model of obesity-related chronic kidney disease

AIM

To determine, using a mouse model of obesity, whether low-dose hydralazine prevents obesity-related chronic kidney disease (CKD).

METHODS

From 8 weeks of age, male C57BL/6 mice received a high-fat diet (HFD) or chow, with or without low-dose hydralazine (25 mg/L) in drinking water, for 24 weeks. Biometric and metabolic variables, renal function and structural changes, renal global DNA methylation, DNA methylation profile and markers of renal fibrosis, injury, inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed.

RESULTS

The HFD-fed mice developed obesity, with glucose intolerance, hyperinsulinaemia and dyslipidaemia. Obesity increased albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis, which were significantly ameliorated by low-dose hydralazine in the absence of a blood pressure-lowering effect. Obesity increased renal global DNA methylation and this was attenuated by low-dose hydralazine. HFD-induced changes in methylation of individual loci were also significantly reversed by low-dose hydralazine. Obese mice demonstrated increased markers of kidney fibrosis, inflammation and oxidative stress, but these markers were not significantly improved by hydralazine.

CONCLUSION

Low-dose hydralazine ameliorated HFD-induced albuminuria and glomerulosclerosis, independent of alterations in biometric and metabolic variables or blood pressure regulation. Although the precise mechanism of renoprotection in obesity is unclear, an epigenetic basis may be implicated. These data support repurposing hydralazine as a novel therapy to prevent CKD progression in obese patients.

Novel Role of Gestational Hydralazine in Limiting Maternal and Dietary Obesity-Related Chronic Kidney Disease

BACKGROUND

Maternal obesity is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease (CKD) in offspring, underpinning the theory of the developmental origins of health and disease. DNA methylation has been implicated in the programming of adult chronic disease by maternal obesity, therefore, DNA demethylating agents may mitigate offspring risk of disease. In rodent models, low-dose hydralazine has previously been shown to reduce renal fibrosis via DNA demethylation. We used mouse models of maternal obesity and offspring obesity to determine whether administration of low-dose hydralazine during gestation can prevent fetal programming of CKD in offspring.

METHODS

Female C57BL/6 mice received high fat diet (HFD) or chow prior to mating, during gestation and lactation. During gestation, dams received subcutaneous hydralazine (5 mg/kg) or saline thrice-weekly. Male offspring weaned to HFD or chow, which continued until endpoint at 32 weeks. Biometric and metabolic parameters, renal global DNA methylation, renal functional and structural changes, and renal markers of fibrosis, inflammation and oxidative stress were assessed at endpoint.

RESULTS

Offspring exposed to maternal obesity or diet-induced obesity had significantly increased renal global DNA methylation, together with other adverse renal effects including albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, renal fibrosis, and oxidative stress. Offspring exposed to gestational hydralazine had significantly reduced renal global DNA methylation. In obese offspring of obese mothers, gestational hydralazine significantly decreased albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, and serum creatinine. Obese offspring of hydralazine-treated lean mothers displayed reduced markers of renal fibrosis and oxidative stress.

CONCLUSION

Gestational hydralazine decreased renal global DNA methylation and exerted renoprotective effects in offspring. This supports a potential therapeutic effect of hydralazine in preventing maternal obesity or dietary obesity-related CKD, through an epigenetic mechanism.

Low-dose hydralazine during gestation reduces renal fibrosis in rodent offspring exposed to maternal high fat diet

BACKGROUND

Maternal high fat diet (HFD) promotes chronic kidney disease (CKD) in offspring. This is in accordance with the theory of fetal programming, which suggests adverse conditions occurring in utero predispose offspring to chronic conditions later in life. DNA methylation has been proposed as a key mechanism by which fetal programming occurs and is implicated in CKD progression. DNA demethylating drugs may interrupt the fetal programming of CKD by maternal obesity. Hydralazine, an antihypertensive agent, demethylates DNA at low doses which do not reduce blood pressure. We used a mouse model of maternal obesity to determine whether gestational administration of low-dose hydralazine to mothers can prevent CKD in offspring.

METHODS

C57BL/6 dams received HFD or chow from 6 weeks prior to mating and were administered subcutaneous hydralazine (5mg/kg) or saline thrice weekly during gestation. Male offspring were weaned to chow and were sacrificed at either postnatal week 9 or week 32. Biometric and metabolic parameters, renal global DNA methylation, renal structural and functional changes and markers of fibrosis, oxidative stress and inflammation were measured in offspring at weeks 9 and 32.

RESULTS

In week 9 offspring, maternal HFD consumption did not significantly alter anthropometric or metabolic parameters, or renal global DNA methylation. Week 32 offspring had increased renal global DNA methylation, together with albuminuria, glomerulosclerosis, renal fibrosis and oxidative stress. Administration of low-dose hydralazine to obese mothers during gestation reduced renal global DNA methylation and renal fibrotic markers in week 32 offspring.

CONCLUSION

Gestational hydralazine reduced renal global DNA methylation in offspring of obese mothers and attenuated maternal obesity-induced renal fibrosis. These data support the use of low-dose hydralazine as a demethylating agent to prevent CKD arising in offspring due to maternal HFD consumption.

DNA methylation and the potential role of demethylating agents in prevention of progressive chronic kidney disease

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global epidemic, and its major risk factors include obesity and type 2 diabetes. Obesity not only promotes metabolic dysregulation and the development of diabetic kidney disease but also may independently lead to CKD by a variety of mechanisms, including endocrine and metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, oxidative stress, altered renal hemodynamics, and lipotoxicity. Deleterious renal effects of obesity can also be transmitted from one generation to the next, and it is increasingly recognized that offspring of obese mothers are predisposed to CKD. Epigenetic modifications are changes that regulate gene expression without altering the DNA sequence. Of these, DNA methylation is the most studied. Epigenetic imprints, particularly DNA methylation, are laid down during critical periods of fetal development, and they may provide a mechanism by which maternal-fetal transmission of chronic disease occurs. Our current review explores the evidence for the role of DNA methylation in the development of CKD, diabetic kidney disease, diabetes, and obesity. DNA methylation has been implicated in renal fibrosis-the final pathophysiologic pathway in the development of end-stage kidney disease-which supports the notion that demethylating agents may play a potential therapeutic role in preventing development and progression of CKD.-Larkin, B. P., Glastras, S. J., Chen, H., Pollock, C. A., Saad, S. DNA methylation and the potential role of demethylating agents in prevention of progressive chronic kidney disease.