TY  - JOUR
A1  - Dschietzig, Thomas Bernd
A1  - Krause-Relle, Katharina
A1  - Hennequin, Maud
A1  - von Websky, Karoline
A1  - Rahnenfuhrer, Jan
A1  - Ruppert, Jana
A1  - Groena, Hans Juergen
A1  - Armbruster, Franz Paul
A1  - Bathgate, Ross A. D.
A1  - Aschenbach, Joerg R.
A1  - Forssmann, Wolf-Georg
A1  - Hocher, Berthold
T1  - Relaxin-2 does not Ameliorate Nephropathy in an experimental model of Type-1 Diabetes
JF  - Kidney & blood pressure research : official organ of the Gesellschaft für Nephrologie
N2  - Background/Aims: In diabetic nephropathy (DN), the current angiotensin-II-blocking pharmacotherapy is frequently failing. For diabetic cardiomyopathy (DC), there is no specific remedy available. Relaxin-2 (Rlx) - an anti-fibrotic, anti-inflammatory, and vasoprotecting peptide - is a candidate drug for both. Methods: Low-dose (32 mu g/kg/day) and high-dose (320 mu g/kg/day) Rlx were tested against vehicle (n = 20 each) and non-diabetic controls (n = 14) for 12 weeks in a model of type-1 diabetes induced in endothelial nitric oxide synthase knock-out (eNOS-KO) mice by intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Results: Diabetic animals showed normal plasma creatinine, markedly increased albuminuria and urinary malonyldialdehyde, elevated relative kidney weight, glomerulosclerosis, and increased glomerular size, but no relevant interstitial fibrosis. Neither dose of Rlx affected these changes although the drug was active and targeted plasma levels were achieved. Of note, we found no activation of the renal TGF-beta pathway in this model. In the hearts of diabetic animals, no fibrotic alterations indicative of DC could be determined which precluded testing of the initial hypothesis. Conclusions: We investigated a model showing early DN without overt tubulo-interstitial fibrosis and activation of the TGF-beta-Smad-2/3 pathway. In this model, Rlx proved ineffective; however, the same may not apply to other models and types of diabetes.
KW  - Diabetic nephropathy
KW  - Diabetic cardiomyopathy
KW  - Fibrosis
KW  - Inflammation
KW  - Relaxin
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1159/000368484
SN  - 1420-4096
SN  - 1423-0143
VL  - 40
IS  - 1
SP  - 77
EP  - 88
PB  - Karger
CY  - Basel
ER  -