title: Autonomic renal denervation ameliorates experimental glomerulonephritis.
abstract: Increasing evidence indicates that inflammation of visceral organs is significantly affected by the autonomic nervous system. Such neuroimmune interactions have not been studied in the kidney. Here, we show that the rat kidney is innervated by both tyrosine hydroxylase-positive sympathetic efferent nerve fibers and calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive primary afferent nerve fibers, both of which are found in proximity to macrophages and dendritic cells. Complete surgical bilateral renal denervation was performed 2 d before glomerulonephritis was induced by injecting the monoclonal anti-Thy-1.1 antibody OX-7. Denervation significantly reduced albuminuria, mesangiolysis, formation of microaneurysms, deposition of glomerular collagen IV, and expression of TGF-beta compared with sham-operated controls. Accordingly, inflammation, identified by accumulation of interstitial macrophages and renal expression of TNF-alpha, and mesangial cell proliferation were significantly reduced. These findings indicate that autonomic renal denervation ameliorates and, by inference, innervation exacerbates acute inflammation in the kidney; therefore, neurotransmitters or neuropeptides and their receptors might represent novel targets for the treatment of acute glomerulonephritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Veelken
authors.forename: Eva-Maria
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Vogel
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hilgers
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Amann
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hartner
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sass
authors.forename: Winfried
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Neuhuber
authors.forename: Gisa
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tiegs
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003714:Denervation; D005921:Glomerulonephritis / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018800:Thy-1 Antigens / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D018800:Thy-1 Antigens