Bioactive lipids are altered in the kidney of chronic undernourished rats: is there any correlation with the progression of prevalent nephropathies?

BACKGROUND: Undernutrition during childhood leads to chronic diseases in adult life including hypertension, diabetes and chronic kidney disease. Here we explore the hypothesis that physiological alterations in the bioactive lipids pattern within kidney tissue might be involved in the progression of chronic kidney disease. METHODS: Membrane fractions from kidney homogenates of undernourished rats (RBD) were submitted to lipid extraction and analysis by thin layer chromatography and cholesterol determination. RESULTS: Kidneys from RBD rats had 25% lower cholesterol content, which disturb membrane microdomains, affecting Ca(2+) homeostasis and the enzymes responsible for important lipid mediators such as phosphatidylinositol-4 kinase, sphingosine kinase, diacylglicerol kinase and phospholipase A(2). We observed a decrease in phosphatidylinositol(4)-phosphate (8.8 ± 0.9 vs. 3.6 ± 0.7 pmol.mg(−1).mim(−1)), and an increase in phosphatidic acid (2.2 ± 0.8 vs. 3.8 ± 1.3 pmol.mg(−1).mim(−1)), being these lipid mediators involved in the regulation of key renal functions. Ceramide levels are augmented in kidney tissue from RBD rats (18.7 ± 1.4 vs. 21.7 ± 1.5 fmol.mg(−1).min(−1)) indicating an ongoing renal lesion. CONCLUSION: Results point to an imbalance in the bioactive lipid generation with further consequences to key events related to kidney function, thus contributing to the establishment of chronic kidney disease.