L-Arginine transport is augmented through up-regulation of tubular CAT-2 mRNA in ischemic acute renal failure in rats

摘要

L-Arginine transport is augmented through up-regulation of tubular CAT-2 mRNA in ischemic acute renal failure in rats.BackgroundIschemic acute renal failure (iARF) is associated with increased nitric oxide (NO) production during the reperfusion period, as endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is maximally activated, and renal tubular inducible NOS (iNOS) is stimulated. Increased NO production leads to augmented tubular injury, probably through the formation of peroxynitrite. L-Arginine (L-Arg), the only precursor for NO, is transported into cells by cationic amino acid transporters, CAT-1 and CAT-2. We hypothesized that the increased NO production observed in iARF may result from increased L-Arg uptake, which would be reflected in the augmented expression of L-Arg transporter(s).