GSE117085
Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Reduces Podocyte Injury in Diabetic Kidney Disease
Podocyte injury in diabetic kidney disease contributes to the development of albuminuria and subsequent renal decline. Clinically, gastric bypass surgery is associated with reductions in albuminuria, and rodent studies demonstrate coherent improvements in renal histology. We aimed to investigate the mechanisms underpinning remission of albuminuria following gastric bypass focussing on podocyte injury. Firstly, we tracked the evolution of albuminuria and cognate evidence of histological and ultrastructural damage to the glomerulus in male Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats. Secondly, we examined the impact of gastric bypass in these rats, focussing on podocyte injury. Thirdly, we conducted a global transcriptomic study profiling the shift in the renal transcriptome in the Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats rat and its relevance to human disease. Lastly, we explored whether gastric bypass could reverse the changes seen in the disease associated transcriptome. Albuminuria in the Zucker Diabetic Fatty rat developed by 12 weeks of age. This was accompanied by glomerulomegaly, podocyte stress and ultrastructural evidence of podocyte dedifferentiation. When animals underwent gastric bypass at 12 weeks of age, marked reductions in albuminuria in association with normalisation of glomerular tuft size, attenuation of podocyte stress and improvements in podocyte foot process morphology were observed within 2 months of surgery. A characteristic disease associated gene expression signature was observed in the kidneys of Zucker Diabetic Fatty rats, with a core set of alterations conserved in global analysis of the human DKD transcriptome. Many of the shared gene expression alterations were reversed by gastric bypass. Reductions in podocyte injury represent a key mechanism underpinning the remission of albuminuria following gastric bypass. Overall design: RNA-seq was performed to identify the renal transcriptomic profile of kidney disease in the ZDF rat,  and to investigate the relative effects of Roux-en-Y gastric bypass intervention on the renal transcriptome. N=6 replicates were profiled.