Fasudil, a Rho-kinase inhibitor, may improve insulin signaling. However, its long-term effect on metabolic abnormalities and its preventive effect on diabetic nephropathy are still unknown. We assessed these effects of fasudil in insulin-resistant diabetic rats, comparing them with those of an angiotensin II receptor blocker, olmesartan. Male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) and Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka, nondiabetic control, rats at 15 weeks of age were used. OLETF rats were randomized to receive a low or a high dose of fasudil or olmesartan for 25 weeks. To examine the therapeutic effects after the development of diabetes, OLETF rats at 30 weeks of age were given fasudil for 10 weeks. Administration of highdose fasudil completely suppressed the development of diabetes, obesity, and dyslipidemia and increased serum adiponectin levels in OLETF rats. High-dose olmesartan also decreased hemoglobin A1c and increased serum adiponectin. There was a significant correlation between hemoglobin A1c and serum adiponectin or free fatty acid levels. The treatment with high-dose fasudil ameliorated proteinuria, glomerulosclerosis, renal interstitial fibrosis, and macrophage infiltration in OLETF rats. Olmesartan, even at the low dose, suppressed renal complications. The treatment with fasudil after the development of diabetes improved the metabolic abnormalities in OLETF rats, but could not suppress the progression of nephropathy. We conclude that the long-term treatment with fasudil prevents the development of diabetes, at least in part, by improving adipocyte differentiation in insulin-resistant diabetic rats. Early use of fasudil may prevent diabetic nephropathy.
The voltage-gated potassium channel Kv1.3 has been recently identified as a molecular target that allows the selective pharmacological suppression of effector memory T cells (T(EM)) without affecting the function of naïve T cells (T(N)) and central memory T cells (T(CM)). We found that Kv1.3 was expressed on glomeruli and some tubules in rats with anti-glomerular basement membrane glomerulonephritis (anti-GBM GN). A flow cytometry analysis using kidney cells revealed that most of the CD4(+) T cells and some of the CD8(+) T cells had the T(EM) phenotype (CD45RC(-)CD62L(-)). Double immunofluorescence staining using mononuclear cell suspensions isolated from anti-GBM GN kidney showed that Kv1.3 was expressed on T cells and some macrophages. We therefore investigated whether the Kv1.3 blocker Psora-4 can be used to treat anti-GBM GN. Rats that had been given an injection of rabbit anti-rat GBM antibody were also injected with Psora-4 or the vehicle intraperitoneally. Rats given Psora-4 showed less proteinuria and fewer crescentic glomeruli than rats given the vehicle. These results suggest that T(EM) and some macrophages expressing Kv1.3 channels play a critical role in the pathogenesis of crescentic GN and that Psora-4 will be useful for the treatment of rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis.
Although the total number of infiltrating myofibroblasts and macrophages decreased after UUO release, the ratios of macrophages expressing CD204 and CD206 increased, suggesting that M2 macrophages play an important role in the repair of renal fibrosis.
The protective effects of Rho kinase inhibitor fasudil against renal diseases have recently been reported. We compared the therapeutic effects of fasudil on the spontaneously hypercholesterolemic (SHC) rat, a model of chronic kidney disease (CKD) with proteinuria, with those of the angiotensin receptor blocker olmesartan (OL) by paying attention to the proteinuria and the macrophage phenotype. SHC rats were allocated to six treatment groups: a vehicle (Ve) group, a low-dose fasudil (FL) group, a high-dose fasudil (FH) group, an OL group, a combination of low-dose fasudil and OL (CL) group, and a combination of high-dose fasudil and OL (CH) group. Sprague-Dawley rats treated with vehicle served as a control (n = 7/each). The rats were treated for 24 wk. Compared with the Ve group, proteinuria was significantly decreased in the FH, OL, and CL groups, and it completely disappeared in the CH group. Glomerular stainings of nephrin and F-actin were focally impaired in the Ve group but were restored in the CH group. Western blotting showed that the CH group had significantly increased renal nephrin expression compared with the Ve group. Interstitial infiltration of macrophages was significantly increased in the Ve group, which was significantly attenuated in all treatment groups. The ratio of CD206 (M2 macrophage marker) to CD68 mRNA was significantly greater in the CH group than in the Ve group. These results indicate that fasudil with OL reduces proteinuria by protecting podocyte integrity and alters the interstitial macrophage density/phenotype, thereby exerting renoprotective effects against CKD.
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