Role of the renal nerves in the development of renal cystic disease in Han:SPRD rats

The objective of this study was to determine whether decreased renal sympathetic nerve activity would have a protective effect on the development of renal cystic disease in male Han:SPRD rats. Unilateral denervation was performed on the left kidney at 3 and 6 weeks of age (n=8) and cy/^deg; rats (n=5) were studied at 9 weeks of age Renal denervation resulted in lower tissue norepinephrine concentrations (422±21.3 vs 218.3±27.5 ng/g tissue; P<0.05), and lower renin scores (9.2±4 4 vs 19.6±8.2 positive arterioles/100 glomeruli, P<0.05), and better preservation of the cortical tubular cell volume in the denervated kidneys as compared to the contralateral innervated kidneys (1.17±0.20 vs 0.90±0 08 ml; P<0.05) of the same Han:SPRD rats. No significant differences in cortical luminal volume (0.93±0.19 vs 0.90±0.18 ml) or cortical interstitial volume (0.33±0.06 vs. 0.31±0.05 ml) were detected between the denervated kidneys and the innervated kidneys respectively In conclusion, these results indicate that chronic renal denervation has a beneficial effect on the development of polycystic kidney disease in male Han:SPRD rats and suggests that early treatment with specific adrenergic receptor antagonists has a potential for directly or indirectly affecting the development of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease in humans.