BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes has become the single most frequent cause of end-stage renal disease. The Goto-Kakizaki rat is currently used as a model for lean type 2 diabetes, but its renal changes have not been fully characterized. We investigated long-term functional and structural renal changes in the Goto-Kakizaki rat to evaluate if this animal model resembles the changes observed in human di...

Although we recently clarified sex-based differences in mouse kidney morphology, the developmental processes responsible for these gender differences during maturation remain unclear. The present study analyzed the morphometry of kidneys from 20-, 30-, 50-, 60-, 70-, 90-, 120- and 150-day-old DBA/2Cr mice. Total kidney weight and ratio of kidney weight to body weight were larger in males than f...

We have tested rat liver fructose-bisphosphatase (D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase, EC 3.1.3.11) and three other gluconeogenic fructose-bisphosphatases as substrates for the catalytic subunit of cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase. In contrast to the rat liver enzyme, homogeneous preparations of mouse liver, rabbit liver, and pig kidney fructose-bisphosphatase could not be phospho...

OBJECTIVE To examine whether factors in a child's perinatal history influence renal function in adolescence, using a cross-sectional study, as during the past two decades researchers have tried to ascertain whether factors such as low birth weight might be related to a decline in kidney function in adolescence, although published data for children born with vesico-ureteric reflux (VUR) remain i...

Objective: Urolithiasis is one of the most painful ailments of the urinary tract disorders found in humans. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anti-urolithiatic activity of artichoke leaf extract (ART) on ethylene glycol (EG)induced urolithiasis in albino rats. Methods: urolithiasis was induced by adding ethylene glycol (0.75% v/v) to drinking water of rats for 28 consecutive d...

OBJECTIVE Dalbegia saxatilis (D.saxatilis) is used as a decoction in traditional medicine for ailments such as cough, small pox, skin lesions, bronchial ailments and toothache. This study is aimed at evaluating the toxic effect of methanol leaf extract of D.saxatilis on renal function. MATERIALS AND METHODS Wistar rats of both sexes were divided into four groups of five: control animals (grou...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the renal protective activity of Hsian-tsao Mesona procumbens Hemsl. water extracts in diabetic rats. METHODS Thirty Sprague-dawley female rats were randomly divided into three groups (n = 10 each), "control group" with intraperitoneal saline injection, "diabetic group" with 60 mg of intraperitoneal streptozotocin injection per kg of body weight and "Hsian-tsao group"...

BACKGROUND Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) has been suggested to play a protective role against kidney injury in chronic kidney disease. OBJECTIVES To identify the critical molecular regulators in the early stage of diabetic nephropathy, we studied the expression of BMP7 and 2 important kidney-specific markers, podocin and Tamm-Horsfall protein (THP). MATERIALS AND METHODS A diabetic ne...

BACKGROUND Clinical determination of mild splenomegaly is notoriously inaccurate. OBJECTIVES To determine sonographically the spleen to left kidney ratio according to age and somatometric parameters among school age children in a tropical environment. METHODS A cross sectional study and convenience sampling were done on 947 apparently healthy subjects (496 boys and 451 girls) aged 6-17 year...

Heterocyclic dithiocarbamates have anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative effects in rodent models of chronic kidney disease. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) reduces the progression of polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Male Lewis polycystic kidney (LPK) rats (an ortholog of Nek8/NPHP9) received intraperitoneal injections of either saline vehicle ...