Diabetic kidney disease in the db/db mouse.
Diabetic nephropathy is increasing in incidence and is now the number one cause of end-stage renal disease in the industrialized world. To gain insight into the genetic susceptibility and pathophysiology of diabetic nephropathy, an appropriate mouse model of diabetic nephropathy would be critical. A large number of mouse models of diabetes have been identified and their kidney disease characterized to various degrees. Perhaps the best characterized and most intensively investigated model is the db/db mouse. Because this model appears to exhibit the most consistent and robust increase in albuminuria and mesangial matrix expansion, it has been used as a model of progressive diabetic renal disease. In this review, we present the findings from various studies on the renal pathology of the db/db mouse model of diabetes in the context of human diabetic nephropathy. Furthermore, we discuss shortfalls of assessing functional renal disease in mouse models of diabetic kidney disease.
Sharma
Kumar
K
Dorrance Hamilton Research Laboratory, Division of Nephrology, Department of Medicine, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA. kumar.sharma@mail.tju.edu
McCue
Peter
P
Dunn
Stephen R
SR
D000419:Albuminuria / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000235:genetics*; D003928:Diabetic Nephropathies / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D005920:Glomerular Mesangium / Q000473:pathology; D006984:Hypertrophy; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000473:pathology; D051379:Mice