Fosinopril ameliorates exogenous cholesterol-induced incipient glomerular lesions in obese Zucker rats. Effects on eicosanoid secretion.

Background: To date, the role of dietary cholesterol as a risk factor for some diabetic nephrophathy, such as mesangial expansion and glomerular lesions, is unknown. Controversy also exists regarding the effects of prostaglandin-induced changes in glomerular haemodynamics on the appearance of glomerulosclerosis.

Methods: We have used obese Zucker rats (OZRs) as a model of early nephrophathy to evaluate the effect of hypercholesterolaemic diet on glomerular prostaglandin secretion and on the development of glomerular lesions.

Effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on rat glomerulosclerosis induced by hypercholesterolaemic diet.

Association between lipids and renal disease has been reported recently. Its pathogenic mechanisms remain unknown. The aims of this study were to establish: (1) if a cholesterol-rich diet, alone or associated with nephrectomy, produces nephropathy; and (2) if a treatment with omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) reduces glomerulosclerotic lesions.

Angiotensin II requires PDGF-BB to induce DNA synthesis in rat mesangial cells cultured in an exogenous insulin-free medium.

Background: Mesangial cell proliferation is an important feature of chronic glomerular disease. Different cytokines and vasoactive substances have been implicated in mesangial cell proliferation. However, the role of angiotensin II remains controversial.

Comparative effects of pravastatin-induced DNA synthesis on serum-stimulated synchronized and proliferative rat mesangial cells.

To compare the effects of pravastatin, a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-Coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor, on DNA synthesis in synchronized and proliferative rat glomerular mesangial cells (MCs), growth-arrested and proliferative MCs were exposed to medium containing 20% or 10% FBS, respectively, to induce mitogenesis. Different doses of pravastatin (10(-3)-10(-9) M) were added for 48 h. DNA synthesis was assessed by Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation.