January - March 2013, Volume 9, Issue 1

Lu YL, L. Ye, H. Wu, F.Z. Xia, J. Yu, Yang LZ

The up-regulated expression of both phospholipase A2 and cyclooxygenase-2 is involved in renal injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Acta Endo (Buc) 2013, 9 (1): 23-32
doi: 10.4183/aeb.2013.23

Context. Recent evidence has stressed that many proinflammatory factors are particularly conducive to the progression of diabetic nephropathy, but the mechanisms underlying the changes are poorly understood. Objective. The purpose of this study was to investigate if up-regulated expression of both phospholipase A2 (PLA2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is involved in renal damage and micro-inflammatory state in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Animals and methods. Sixteen Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: control group and diabetes group. Animals in diabetes group were treated with intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. Eight weeks later, rat renal tissue was studied with light and transmission electron microscopes, and PLA2 and COX-2 and their mRNA expression were examined by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, respectively. Results. The renal pathological lesions in diabetes group were obvious, including increased amounts of mesangial matrix, thickening of the glomerular and tubular basement membranes and fusion and effacement of the adjacent podocyte foot processes. Infiltrating inflammatory cells were observed in the tubules. Compared with control group, the expression of cytosolic PLA2 and COX-2 was significantly increased in diabetes group. Conclusions. It uncovers that the PLA2-COX-2 pathway may lead to renal inflammation associated with renal damage in streptozotocin- induced diabetic rats.

Keywords: phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenase-2, diabetes, inflammation, kidney.

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