High Salt Induced Alterations in Substrate Metabolism, Respiratory Activity, and Acidification in Isolated Proximal Tubules from Dahl Salt-Sensitive Rats
Authors: Dash Ranjan , Yang Chun , Dave Devanshi , Kurth Theresa , Shimada Satoshi , Cowley, Jr Allen 
Published: May 2024

Rationale: The renal nephron actively reabsorbs nearly 99% of Na+ from the glomerular filtrate to maintain fluid and solute homeostasis, roughly 70% of which occurs in the proximal tubules (PT), where mitochondria consume a great amount of O2 for ATP production to meet the energy demand. However, the effect of a high salt diet upon the PT substrate metabolism and respiratory activity towards energy production and associated cellular acidification is not well-known. Method: To determine alterations in the PT substrate metabolism, respiratory activity, and acidification with a high salt diet, the PT of adult Dahl salt-sensitive (SS) rats were isolated by collagenase digestion and sieving with the rats fed either a 0.4% (LS) or a 4.0% (HS) NaCl diet for 7, 14 and 21 days (age-matched). Responses of the PT O2 consumption rate (OCR) and extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) were determined using a high-throughput Agilent Seahorse XF96 Extracellular Flux Analyzer and a modified mitochondrial stress test protocol, which combined a substrate addition step to the mitochondrial stress reagent addition steps. Basal OCR and ECAR were assessed with only amino acids (basic Seahorse medium) used as fuel for respiration. Subsequently, OCR and ECAR responses were determined by adding different circulating substrates followed by perturbations to the electron transport chain (ETC) in sequential order with oligomycin to inhibit ATP synthase, FCCP to uncouple oxidative phosphorylation, and rotenone + antimycin A to inhibit complexes I and III of the ETC. From these measurements, different OCR and ECAR parameters were derived for each substrate and each salt load condition. Results: The OCR data show that the PT of SS rats preferred to use lactate, glutamine, and palmitate for ATP production under the LS diet. However, the HS diet resulted in significantly reduced OCR when supplied with the same substrates. Interestingly, the basal OCR which occurred with amino acids as metabolic substrates was increased in the PT obtained from HS fed SS rats starting on day 7. These alterations in substrate metabolism were also apparent from the same parametric analysis of the ECAR data. An increased mitochondrial proton leak induced respiration was also deduced form both OCR and ECAR data under the HS diet. Since it is known that uncoupling proteins (UCP) and ADP/ATP translocase (ANT) enhance proton leak, gene expression was quantified from the isolated PT segments. Increased Ucp2 gene expression was found in response to the HS diet (days 7, 14, 21) compared to the LS fed SS rats but no changes were observed in the expression of Slc25A4 (ANT1) or Slc25A5 (ANT2). Summary: HS diet resulted in significant metabolic changes in the PT segments, including substrate metabolism, respiratory activity, and cellular acidification. HS diet also increased PT basal respiration and proton leak, which was associated with an increase of Ucp2 gene expression. Considering the increased ATP demand in the PT segments with a HS diet, these changes would result in increased O2 consumption and increased reactive oxygen species production. Together with the physiological changes on renal hemodynamics that we have observed, we propose that the observed metabolomic changes on the PT upon HS diet contribute to the onset of associated regional ischemia, tissue inflammation, and renal injury observed in hypertensive SS rats. NIH R01-HL151587. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.