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Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Assessment of Kidney Function in Mouse Models of Glomerular Disease
Published on: June 30, 2018
Nile red spectroscopy to evaluate disease-specific lipid alterations in glomerular kidney disease
Asha Swamy1, Wulin Teo2, Jason Bau3
1Department of Medicine, Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta T2N 4Z6, Canada.
Abstract:
Lipid accumulation has been implicated in the progression of chronic kidney disease, yet its role in glomerulonephritis (GN) remains poorly characterized. Here we use Nile Red (NR), a solvatochromic fluorophore that stains for lipid droplets (LDs) to examine LD distribution and lipid chemistry in glomerular diseases. Seventy-two kidney biopsy samples, including histologically diagnosed GN subtypes and control nephrectomy tissues, were stained with NR. LDs were quantified using a semi-automated MATLAB-based image analysis pipeline and spectral emission profiles were generated to assess the emission ratio, reflecting differences in lipid composition. We found that GN subtypes exhibit distinct patterns of lipid accumulation and lipid polarity as evaluated by using a NR emission ratio. Our study demonstrates the utility of NR fluorescence spectroscopy in detecting disease-specific lipid alterations in GN. The findings suggest that distinct lipid signatures may serve as pathological indicators, offering potential new diagnostic and mechanistic insights into glomerular disease.
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