Sex vulnerability in the subtotal nephrectomy model of glomerulosclerosis in the rat

Unilateral nephrectomy and contralateral ligation of two thirds of the renal arterial circulation were performed on male (N x M, n = 6) and female (N x F, n = 7) Sprague-Dawley rats. Sham nephrectomies were performed in 16 male and female control rats (SN x M, n = 8; SN x F, n = 8). Creatinine clearance corrected for body weight and systolic arterial blood pressure were equal in both nephrectomized groups after 1, 3, and 5 weeks. The appearance of proteinuria was delayed in N x F and was still significantly less than N x M after 5 weeks (79 +/- 22 vs 30 +/- 12 mg per 24 hours, p less than 0.05). Glomerular visceral epithelial cell protein reabsorption droplets and vacuolization were equal in N x M and N x F. N x F exhibited one fifteenth of the glomerulosclerosis seen in N x M (p less than 0.01). In addition, there was one fourth of the mesangial expansion, but this trend did not reach statistical significance (p greater than 0.05). Mean glomerular volume was similar in male and female sham-operated (p greater than 0.05) and nephrectomized rats (p greater than 0.05), and nephrectomy resulted in hypertrophy in both groups (p less than 0.01). Glomerular procollagen alpha 1(IV) mRNA levels were higher in N x M than in all other groups (p less than 0.05) and correlated with mesangial expansion and glomerular sclerosis (p less than 0.01) but not with systemic hypertension, proteinuria, or epithelial cell changes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)