Fatty acid binding protein in kidney of normotensive and genetically hypertensive rats

Fatty acid binding protein was purified from renal medulla, and its binding activity and fatty acid composition were determined in spontaneously hypertensive stroke-prone rats (SHRSP). Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) were used as controls. Fatty acid binding activity was higher in 5-week-old prehypertensive SHRSP than in control WKY (0.155 +/- 0.006 vs 0.030 +/- 0.001 mol palmitic acid/mol protein). However, in 40-week-old rats, the activity was decreased only in SHRSP with established hypertension (0.035 +/- 0.002 vs 0.028 +/- 0.003 mol palmitic acid/mol protein WKY). Fatty acid compositions were similar among 5-week-old and 40-week-old control WKY and 5-week-old SHRSP (palmitic acid, 24%; stearic acid, 14%; oleic acid, 30%; linoleic acid, 29%; arachidonic acid, 3%), although the total amount of bound long-chain fatty acids was decreased in 5-week-old SHRSP, explaining the high fatty acid binding activity in this preparation. Fatty acid binding protein from 40-week-old SHRSP had an elevated proportion of endogenous arachidonic acid, with other fatty acids being relatively reduced (palmitic acid, 8%; stearic acid, 2%; oleic acid, 4%; linoleic acid, 10%; arachidonic acid, 76%), indicating increased arachidonic acid transport in the cytosol. These results show that genetically hypertensive rats had an alteration in fatty acid transport mediated by fatty acid binding protein; this alteration may be involved in the pathogenesis of hypertension.