Renal and urinary glycosaminoglycans in an experimental model of chronic renal failure in rats

The present paper reports the glomerular and renal individual glycosaminoglycan levels in an experimental model of chronic renal failure (CRF) that was induced in Wistar rats by five-sixths mass ablation. Glycemia, body weight, blood systolic pressure and urinary excretions of creatinine, albumin and glycosaminoglycans were measured for 12 weeks. At the end of the experiment, the weight and the glycosaminoglycan composition of the kidneys were determined. In control rats, heparan sulfate was the main glycosaminoglycan found both in whole kidney and isolated glomeruli, with trace amounts of dermatan sulfate. Isolated glomeruli presented higher heparan sulfate concentrations than whole kidney (expressed as mg/g dry weight). In CRF rats, albuminuria appeared from the 2 week on, and dermatan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate contents of the kidney increased, whereas heparan sulfate levels remained unaltered. Changes in urine glycosaminoglycans (heparan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate) were not statistically significant. The increase in glomerular dermatan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate observed in this experimental model could be related to the mechanisms involved in the glomerulosclerosis and proteinuria that occur in CRF.