In-Vitro Mechanisms of 1,2-Dichloropropane Nephrotoxicity using the Renal Cortical Slice Model

1 Renal cortical slices isolated from the kidneys of male Wistar rats were used as an experimental model for studying the nephrotoxicity induced by 1,2-dichloropropane. 2 The solvent causes a depletion of renal reduced glutathione content and slight, but significant, lipid peroxidation. The block of the oxidative pathway with carbon monoxide prevents glutathione content depletion, and shows that this conjugation is the major step in 1,2-dichloropropane metabolism. 3 Loss of organic anion accumulation and release into the incubation medium of tubular enzymes, mainly from the soluble fraction, are the toxic effects of the solvent. The brush border is only slightly affected. 4 The mechanism of nephrotoxicity appears to occur via mercapturic acid metabolism. Acivicin and aminooxyacetic acid, inhibitors of gammaglutamyltransferase and β-lyase activity, respectively, partially but significantly prevent the loss of organic anion accumulation induced by 1,2-dichloropropane. Furthermore, α-ketobutyrate, an activator of β-lyase, enhances the effects of 1,2-dichloropropane on the target, but is itself toxic for organic anion accumulation.

Renal Cortical Slices: An In Vitro Model for Kidney Metabolism and Toxicity

The in vitro renal cortical slice model was used to study: 1) the effects on the kidney of some haloalkanes and haloalkenes using 3-month-old male Wistar rats; 2) influence of age and sex on renal cortical slice indices in non-treated rats; and 3) effects of 1,2-dichloropropane on the slices after pretreatment of 3-month-old male Wistar rats with DL-butathionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine. The most nephrotoxic chemical used was 1,3-dichloropropene, which caused a total depletion in the levels of reduced glutathione, a high peroxidation of lipid (about three thousand-fold with respect to control), a significant release of tubular enzymes into the medium, and loss of organic anion ( p-aminohippurate) accumulation. All the chemicals affected the cytosol more than the brush border. The most remarkable age-related differences in the untreated slices were the progressive decrease of reduced glutathione (p<0.05 from three months of age), and an increase in lactate dehydrogenase release into the medium (p<0.05 from six months of age). By contrast, sex differences were slight. The ‘treatment with 1,2-dichloropropane of slices prepared from rats pretreated with DL-butathionine-[S,R]-sulphoximine significantly increased the depletion of glutathione content (p<0.05) and malondialdehyde release in the medium (p<0.001) caused by the solvent alone.

Renin secretory effects of N6-cyclohexyladenosine: effects of dietary sodium

Previous observations by others have shown that Na deprivation augments and Na loading attenuates the inhibitory effect of exogenous adenosine on renin secretion in vivo. The purpose of the present experiments was to test the hypothesis that Na deprivation and Na loading alter the sensitivity of the adenosine receptors (A1 subclass) that mediate the inhibitory effect. The rat renal cortical slice preparation was used. Na loading decreased and Na deprivation increased tissue renin content and the basal renin secretory rate; these two variables were directly related (r = 0.84, P less than 0.00005). N6-cyclohexyladenosine (CHA), an adenosine analogue that selectively activates the A1 subclass of adenosine receptors in the nanomolar to micromolar concentration range inhibited renin secretion over the same range of concentrations (nM-microM) and to approximately the same maximal extent (to 50% of the mean basal secretory rate) in cortical slices taken from Na-loaded, control, and Na-deprived rats. These results demonstrate that changes in the intrinsic sensitivity of adenosine receptors do not explain dietary Na-induced changes in the in vivo renin secretory response to exogenous adenosine.

Mechanisms of Organic Acid and Monosaccharide Transport in the Kidney of the Brush-tailed Possum, Trichosurus vulpecula

The mechanisms of organic acid and monosaccharide transport in the kidney of T. vulpecula were investigated using the renal cortical slice preparation. The kinetics, the sensitivity to inhibitors of metabolism and sodium transport, and the specificity of the concentrative uptake of p-aminohippurate and oc-methyl-n-glucoside were examined and compared with published results from studies in eutherian mammals. Some minor differences between metatherians and eutherians were noted with regard to the specificities of the renal slice uptake systems. Penicillin G, a competitor of organic acid transport in eutherian kidneys, did not interact with the marsupial uptake system, and sodium acetate, which stimulates transport in other mammals, inhibited p-aminohippurate uptake in the slice of the possum kidney. 2-Deoxy-n-glucose, which interacts with the phlorizinsensitive monosaccharide transport system in the dog, rat and rabbit kidney, had no effect on oc-methyl-n-glucoside uptake in the possum, and the magnitude of the interaction of n-fructose resembled that reported in the dog and rat but was greater than the inhibition reported in the rabbit. n-Glucuronic acid and n-glucuronic acid lactone inhibited oc-methyl-n-glucoside uptake in the possum but had no effect on uptake in rat renal slices. In consideration of the reported variability of these parameters between different classes of eutherians, it was concluded that the primary mechanisms involved in organic solute transport by the proximal nephron of metatherians and eutherians were not significantly different.

Effect of DIDS on renal tubular transport

Two stilbene derivates that had been used to covalently label the Cl- carrier in the erythrocyte were investigated for reactivity with the renal organic anion system. These compounds, 4,4'-diisothiocyanostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS) and (4,4'-diisothiocyano)-dihydrostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (H2DIDS), were found to be potent inhibitors (Ki congruent to 35 microM) of p-aminohippurate (PAH) transport in the renal cortical slice without affecting tetraethylammonium (TEA) transport or tissue viability. During renal clearance studies performed in the perfused kidney, DIDS decreased the PAH/inulin clearance ratio to congruent to 1. When the possible renal transport of [3H]H2DIDS was investigated, the renal slice transport or binding of [3H]H2DIDS reached a slice-to-medium ratio of congruent to 6, and this accumulation was decreased by probenecid. In perfused kidney experiments, the [3H]H2DIDS/inulin clearance ratio was congruent to 0.8. Since probenecid reduced this clearance ratio to congruent to 0.5, there was the possibility that H2DIDS underwent tubular secretion. In conclusion, DIDS and H2DIDS interacted with the renal organic anion transport system, which indicated that these compounds were possible probes for this transport system.

Renal Cortical Slice Uptake and Runout of N-methylnicotinamide and p- Aminohippurate after Potassium Dichromate Treatment

Administration of 40 mg/kg potassium dichromate to adult male rats produced a significant enhancement of N-methylnicotinamide (NMN) uptake by renal cortical slices when measured 24 h after a single subcutaneous injection. Incubation under nitrogen or in the presence of dinitrophenol reduced NMN accumulation by kidney slices from control and treated rats to the same level. The rate of NMN runout was slower in renal cortical slices from rats treated with 40 mg/kg potassium dichromate, while p-aminohippurate (PAH) runout was significantly greater than control.