title: Heart-type fatty acid binding protein is associated with proteinuria in obesity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lipid metabolism contributes to the formation of obesity-related glomerulopathy (ORG). Heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP or FABP3) is involved in lipid metabolism and was predicted to relate to renal lesions in obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 28 patients with ORG were investigated, and renal tissue from 7 kidney donors served as controls. Db/db mice with albuminuria were treated with Simvastatin for 12 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunohistochemistry demonstrated the H-FABP staining in glomerular and tubular areas of patients with ORG, and the percentage of H-FABP in the glomerular area was significantly higher than in controls (15.8±1.62 versus 4.51±0.56%, P<0.001). Moreover, H-FABP expression correlated with proteinuria, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, waist circumference and the homeostatic model assessment - insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) among patients with ORG. Enhanced expression of H-FABP was also detected in the db/db mice, and expression increased from 8 to 20 weeks of age and was weakly related to increased albuminuria (r = 0.433; P = 0.020). Furthermore, H-FABP was co-localized with synaptopodin and demonstrated a podocyte pattern distribution. After Simvastation treatment, the urine albumin levels decreased with lipid levels and H-FABP expression in the glomeruli. The expression of H-FABP was related to Simvastatin treatment, albuminuria and triglycerides, while it was only linked with triglycerides and albuminuria (r = 0.643, P = 0.036).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirmed an association of H-FABP with the pathogenesis of clinical and experimental ORG, and suggests that such a process might be related to podocytes and lipid dysmetabolism.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute of Nephrology, Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University School of Medicine, Nanjing, P. R. China. chenhuimei@nju.edu.cn
authors.forename: Hui-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Chun-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Yong-Chun
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.forename: Zhi-Hong
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000074026:Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism*; D050199:Podocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C493408:FABP3 protein, human; D000074026:Fatty Acid Binding Protein 3; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins