Cigarette smoke concentrate increases 8-epi-PGF2alpha and TGFbeta1 secretion in rat mesangial cells

Epidemiological studies have shown that cigarette smoke, an oxidant agent, is a risk factor for the development of diabetic nephropathy (DN), in which pathogenesis transforming growth factor beta(1) (TGFbeta(1)) plays a key role. In our experimental model we exposed mesangial cell cultures to cigarette smoke concentrate (CSC) to study the effect of smoking on the pathogenesis of DN. Thus, we analyzed the effect of CSC on TGFbeta(1) and lipid peroxidation (8-epi-PGF(2alpha)) in rat mesangial cells. Furthermore, since the protein kinase C (PKC) pathway appears to be a key factor for the enhanced production of TGFbeta(1), we also analyzed the effect of the selective PKCbeta inhibitor LY379196 on TGFbeta(1) response to CSC. CSC induced an increase of both TGFbeta(1) and 8-epi-PGF(2) compared to basal conditions (5 mM glucose). The CSC-induced increase in TGFbeta(1) secretion was significantly suppressed by LY379196. These data suggest that smoking could increase TGFbeta(1) production, probably due to oxidative stress and PKCbeta activation. This finding supports the concept that smoking is a risk factor for DN development.