Dietary zinc deficiency increases uroguanylin accumulation in rat kidney.
BACKGROUND
Zinc deficiency in humans produces a secretory diarrhea that is corrected by zinc supplementation. In rats, differential mRNA display analysis has shown that intestinal uroguanylin gene expression is increased in zinc deficiency. An endocrine axis involving intestinal uroguanylin and the kidney may exist. Therefore, we conducted this study to examine whether zinc deficiency would affect uroguanylin expression in the kidney of rats.


METHODS
A purified diet, deficient or adequate in zinc content, was fed to rats. Preprouroguanylin mRNA was localized in kidney by in situ hybridization, and prouroguanylin/uroguanylin peptides were localized in the kidney by immunohistochemistry. Abundance was measured by Western blotting and slot blotting analyses.


RESULTS
In situ hybridization demonstrated that preprouroguanylin mRNA-expressing cells were localized in the proximal tubules, being primarily limited to the cortical-medullary junction. Zinc deficiency did not alter the abundance or distribution of the mRNA. Immunohistochemistry, using a uroguanylin peptide-specific, affinity-purified antibody, demonstrated that immunoreactive uroguanylin peptide was localized to the same cells but that the staining was stronger in zinc-deficient rats. Western blotting analysis of kidney extracts showed that there was no difference in abundance of prouroguanylin between zinc adequate and deficient rats. However, slot blotting analysis demonstrated that the abundance of a low molecular weight immunoreactive peptide, presumably uroguanylin, was higher in extracts of zinc-deficient rats.


CONCLUSIONS
The results suggest that production of prouroguanylin by the kidney, in contrast to the intestine, is not influenced by dietary zinc intake, but that higher amounts of uroguanylin in kidney extracts may reflect renal processing of the hormone obtained from the systemic circulation.
Food Science and Human Nutrition Department and Center for Nutritional Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611-0370, USA.
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L
Cui
R K
RK
Blanchard
R J
RJ
Cousins
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004032:Diet; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007668:Kidney / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D045265:Natriuretic Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015032:Zinc / Q000172:deficiency*
D045265:Natriuretic Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D010455:Peptides; D011498:Protein Precursors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C084362:uroguanylin; D015032:Zinc