Stainable glomerular basement membrane polyanions and renal hemodynamics during hexadimethrine-induced proteinuria

To clarify the mechanism of hexadimethrine-induced proteinuria, we studied the changes in stainable glomerular basement membrane anions and renal hemodynamics during hexadimethrine (HDM) infusion. To determine whether glomerular anions were neutralized in vivo, animals infused with HDM received cationized ferritin intravenously, or their kidneys were perfused in situ with lysozyme. During its infusion, HDM bound heavily within the glomerular basement membrane, and binding of the cationic probes was virtually abolished. During recovery after HDM infusion, HDM deposits diminished and the binding of the cationic probes recovered to normal. The inverse correlation between HDM binding and binding of the cationic probes confirms that the glomerular binding of HDM is associated with neutralization or shielding of the glomerular basement membrane anions in vivo. Renal hemodynamic parameters and urinary protein excretion rate were measured before, during, and after infusion of HDM. Heavy proteinuria appeared during HDM infusion and persisted for 1 hour after its discontinuation. Although glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow, and urine flow rate decreased transiently at the onset of proteinuria, they returned to baseline levels before resolution of proteinuria. Filtration fraction never changed significantly. Thus, proteinuria cannot be attributed solely to renal hemodynamic factors. These results strengthen our hypothesis that HDM induces proteinuria as a consequence of its binding to and neutralization of glomerular basement membrane fixed anions.