Abstract P339: Genetically Induced Renal Lymphangiogenesis Prevents the Development of L-NAME Hypertension in Mice Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In humans and experimental animals, persistent immune system activation, accumulation of immune cells in the kidney, and subsequent inflammation plays an essential role in the development of hypertension (HTN). To reduce inflammation, lymphatic vessels drain extracellular fluid from the interstitium and traffic immune cells to draining lymph nodes. However, little is known about the connection between hypertension and renal lymphatic vessels. We hypothesized that renal lymphatic vessel density would increase in mice with L-NAME HTN and that genetically induced renal lymphangiogenesis would prevent this increase in blood pressure. L-NAME (0.5 mg/mL) was administered in the drinking water for two weeks and caused HTN (SBP: 1533 vs. 1033 mmHg; p<0.05) and renal lymphatic vessel dilation compared to control mice. Kidneys from mice with L-NAME HTN had significantly increased gene expression of the lymphangiogenic marker Vegfc , macrophage marker Adgre1 (F4/80), dendritic cell marker Cd11c , Th1 cell marker Tbx21 , and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Il6 . Blood pressure decreased after a two-week washout period following L-NAME (SBP: 1132 mmHg) which was associated with a decrease in renal gene expression of Adgre1 (F4/80) and Cd11c , however renal lymphatic vessels remained dilated. To determine if augmenting renal lymphatic vessel density prior to L-NAME treatment would prevent HTN, we used transgenic mice that in response to doxycycline undergo kidney-specific VEGF-D overexpression (KidVD+ mice) and renal lymphangiogenesis. Doxycycline (200 mg/L) was administered in the drinking water of KidVD+ and KidVD- mice for four weeks with L-NAME being added during the final three weeks. Starting doxycycline one week prior to L-NAME prevented HTN in KidVD+ mice while slightly decreasing SBP in KidVD- mice (SBP: 1124 vs. 1342 mmHg; p<0.05). Renal gene expression of the Th17 cell marker Rorc was decreased and the lymphatic chemokine markers Ccl21 and Ccl19 were increased significantly in KidVD+ mice. These data together demonstrate that L-NAME HTN can alter the size of renal lymphatic vessels and genetically augmenting renal lymphatic vessel density prior to L-NAME can prevent the development of HTN.

published proceedings

  • Hypertension

author list (cited authors)

  • Lopez Gelston, C. A., Balasubbramanian, D., Abouelkheir, G. R., Lopez, A. H., Hudson, K. R., Johnson, E. R., ... Mitchell, B. M.

citation count

  • 0

complete list of authors

  • Lopez Gelston, Catalina A||Balasubbramanian, Dakshnapriya||Abouelkheir, Gabriella R||Lopez, Alexandra H||Hudson, Kayla R||Johnson, Eric R||Garza, Victoria C||Daboul, Reem A||Rutkowski, Joseph M||Mitchell, Brett M

publication date

  • January 2017