AJP - Renal Physiology, Vol 250, Issue 1 136-F143, Copyright © 1986 by American Physiological Society
Ureteral occlusion decreases phospholipid and cholesterol of renal tubular membranes
J. Morrissey, D. Windus, S. Schwab, J. Tannenbaum and S. Klahr
Unilateral ureteral obstruction of 24 h duration in the dog results in a
20% decrease in the amount of total phospholipids present in basolateral
membranes of renal tubular cells obtained from the experimental kidney as
compared with the amount of phospholipid in basolateral membranes prepared
from the contralateral kidney of the same dogs or from the kidneys of
normal sham-operated dogs. There was also a decrease in the content of
cholesterol and cholesterol esters of the basolateral membranes from the
experimental kidney. By contrast, no significant change in lipid content
was observed in brush border membranes obtained from the experimental
kidney of dogs with unilateral ureteral obstruction. The decrease in
phospholipid content of basolateral membranes was accompanied by a 40% fall
in the content of phosphatidylcholine and a 12% fall in sphingomyelin.
There was a small (12%) but significant increase in the content of
phosphatidylethanolamine in basolateral membranes. The mechanisms
responsible for the selective decrease in phospholipid content of
basolateral membranes remain to be established. It is postulated that
changes in solute transport and altered response to hormones observed in
the postobstructed kidney of animals with unilateral ureteral obstruction
may be explained, at least in part, by changes in the lipid composition of
basolateral membranes.
