To examine whether expression and distribution of aquaporin of collecting duct (AQP-CD) are regulated by vasopressin V2 receptor (V2R), we performed immunohistochemical studies with specific antibody against AQP-CD.Normal Wistar rats were divided into four groups and treated for 3 d; control, dehydration, vasopressin V1 receptor (V1R) antagonist (OPC-21268 120 mg/kg), V2R antagonist (OPC-31260 30 mg/kg). At time of death, urine osmolality (Uosm) in the dehydration group (1884±245 mOsm/ kg) was significantly higher than that in the control (938±91). In the V2R antagonist group, Uosm was significantly decreased to 249±29, whereas V1R antagonist showed no effect on Uosm. In the control and V1R antagonist groups, immunofluorescence studies showed the AQP-CD staining of both apical membrane and subapical cytoplasm of CD cells of the cortex and the inner medulla. Dehydration increased the immunostaining of both apical membrane and subapical cytoplasm of CD cells of the inner medulla, and the degree of increase was dominant in apical membrane. In the V2R antagonist group, only faint staining of apical membrane and weak labeling of cytoplasm of CD cells of the inner medulla were observed. These changes in the localization and protein amount of AQP-CD by dehydration and V2R antagonist were quantitatively confirmed by immunogold studies and immunoblot analysis of the inner medulla. The present results indicate that the distribution and amount of AQP-CD in the CD cells are regulated by vasopressin V2 receptor. (J. Clin. Invest. 1994. 94:1778-1783
Extraneural dopamine is thought to be synthesized by an aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (L-AADC) activity in tubular cells. However, the previous histochemical studies of this enzyme's localization in the nephron were not consistent. To determine the localization of L-AADC and whether changes in Na intake regulate this enzyme, L-AADC was measured in microdissected nephron segments from rat kidneys. Dopamine formed by isolated tubules incubated with exogenous L-dopa was quantitated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and with the more sensitive radioenzyme assay (REA). L-AADC activity was present only in proximal convoluted (PCT, 208 +/- 19 ng.cm-1.h-1) and proximal straight tubules (PST, 81 +/- 9 ng.cm-1.h-1), whereas no significant activity was detected in other nephron segments by either HPLC or REA. Maximal velocity (Vmax) of L-AADC in a low-salt diet group (246 +/- 4 ng.cm-1.h-1) showed a small but a significant decrease (P less than 0.05) compared with control and high-salt diet groups (311 +/- 6 and 293 +/- 4 ng.cm-1.h-1, respectively), whereas the apparent Michaelis constant (Km) was similar in these three groups. These results show that L-AADC is present only in the PCT and PST of the rat nephron, and suggest that the changes in L-AADC activity may contribute to the regulation of extraneural dopamine production in the kidney during low-salt intake.
To examine the origin of increased urinary dopamine excretion (UDAV) during high salt intake, we measured UDAV from the innervated (INN) or the chronically denervated (DEN) kidney in rats fed either a high-salt (HS) or low-salt (LS) diet. UDAV of DEN [3.50 +/- 0.46 ng. min-1.inulin clearance (CIN)-1] and INN (4.00 +/- 0.59 ng. min-1.CIN-1) kidneys in the HS group showed a significant increase compared with that of the respective kidney in the LS group (DEN 1.42 +/- 0.12, INN 1.44 +/- 0.09 ng.min-1.CIN-1), whereas the effect of denervation on UDAV was not significantly different between two groups. We determined aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (L-AADC) activity and dopamine degradation rate of microdissected proximal convoluted tubules to study the changes in dopamine metabolism. L-AADC activity in the HS group showed a significant increase compared with that in the LS group, although there was no significant change in dopamine degradation rate. We conclude that the increase in UDAV during high salt intake was mainly caused by the enhancement of extraneural dopamine production by the kidney in rats. Dopamine-producing enzyme, but not its degradation in the tubular cells, plays a role in the regulation of extraneural dopamine production.
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