Renal Mechanisms for Hypercalciuria Induced by Metabolic Acidosis

In metabolic acidosis, a negative calcium balance is induced by decreased renal tubular calcium reabsorption. This occurs independently of the action of parathyroid hormone or vitamin D and was attributed to a direct action of metabolic acidosis on the renal tubular cells. The latter has been verified by recent studies on the molecular levels in the kidney.

Whereas the regulatory role of urinary calcium excretion was traditionally assigned to the transcellular calcium transport in the distal convoluted tubule (DCT) and connecting tubule (CNT), most of the calcium reabsorption from the glomerular filtrate paracellularly occurs through the tight junctions in the proximal tubule (PT) and the thick ascending limb (TAL) of Henle's loop. Interestingly, all these nephron segments participate in producing hypercalciuria caused by metabolic acidosis. Claudin-2 is the major route of paracellular calcium transport in the PT and was downregulated in rats with 5 days' NH4Cl loading. In the TAL, the lumen-positive voltage produced by apical K+ recycling drives paracellular reabsorption of Ca2+ and Mg2+ via the claudin-16/19 complex. Activation of calcium-sensing receptor (CaSR) by extracellular calcium upregulates claudin-14, which in turn interacts with the claudin-16/19 complex and inhibits its cation permeability. This TAL CaSR-claudins axis was activated by chronic NH4Cl loading in rats. Finally, the major transcellular calcium transporters TRPV5 and 28K calcium-binding protein in the DCT-CNT were also downregulated by NH4Cl or acetazolamide administration in mice.

Both paracellular and transcellular calcium transport pathways in the kidney are regulated by metabolic acidosis and lead to renal calcium wasting. In the PT, claudin-2 is downregulated by acidic pH. In the TAL of Henle's loop, CaSR is stimulated by the ionized calcium released from bone and upregulates claudin-14, which in turn inhibits the claudin-16/19 complex and leads to calcium and magnesium wasting. Finally, the transcellular calcium transporters, TRPV5 and calbindin-D28K, are downregulated by metabolic acidosis in the DCT and CNT.