Evaluation of renal afferent innervation influence in experimental chronic kidney disease

Abstract

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) is increasing worldwide and the main contributors to CKD progression are arterial hypertension (AH) and diabetes. Despite advances in pharmacological treatments with antihypertensive and antidiabetic drugs, the alarming number of patients with nephropathy shows the need for new therapeutic strategies. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) has been highlighted as an important therapeutic target for AH through renal denervation in patients and experimental models. Clinical and experimental studies have shown that the denervation procedure, which removes both the renal sympathetic and sensory fibers, promotes not only renoprotective effects but also improves cardiac and vascular function, glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. The hypothesis of the present project is that renal afferents play an important role on cardiovascular and renal alterations in CKD. CKD will be induced by the experimental 5/6 nephrectomy model in Wistar rats. Selective denervation of the renal afferent fibers will be performed after 5 weeks of CDK induction and, after 3 weeks, the following parameters will be evaluated: blood pressure, heart rate and renal function, fibrosis and inflammation. Therefore, data obtained from the present project will contribute to the understanding of underlying mechanisms in AH and thereby contribute to the development and improvement of new therapeutic strategies to CKD. (AU)