HEPATIC AND EXTRAHEPATIC ANGIOTENSINOGEN GENE-EXPRESSION IN RATS WITHACUTE NEPHROTIC SYNDROME

Plasma concentration and urine excretion of the renin-angiotensin syst em proteins are altered in rats with nephrotic syndrome (NS). In this work the messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) levels of angiotensinogen ( Ao) were analyzed with the slot-blot hybridization technique in liver and other extrahepatic tissues: kidney, heart, brain, and adrenal glan d from control, nephrotic, and pair-fed (PF) rats. NS was induced by a single injection of puromycin aminonucleoside (PAN). Although a great urinary excretion and half-normal plasma levels of Ao were observed o n day 6 after PAN injection, when NS was clearly established, hepatic Ao mRNA levels did not change. Furthermore, the Ao mRNA levels did not change in any of the extrahepatic tissues studied on day 6, nor did i ts hepatic levels at days 1, 3, 5, or 7 after PAN injection. These dat a suggest that the hepatic and extrahepatic Ao mRNA levels are unalter ed during the development of the acute NS induced by PAN.