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- Diabetes
Metab Res Rev. 2005 Apr 26; [Epub ahead of print]
Increased renal hypertrophy in diabetic mice
genetically modified at the haptoglobin locus.
Miller-Lotan
R, Herskowitz Y, Kalet-Litman S, Nakhoul F, Aronson D, Zoabi R, Asaf R,
Ben-Izhak O, Sabo E, Lim SK, Baumann H, Berger FG, Levy AP.
Technion Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology,
Haifa, Israel.
BACKGROUND:
The human haptoglobin (Hp) gene is polymorphic with two functional
classes of alleles, denoted 1 and 2. We have demonstrated in three
longitudinal studies and several cross-sectional studies that the Hp
genotype is an independent risk factor for diabetic vascular disease.
These studies have presented a compelling argument that diabetic
individuals homozygous for the Hp 1 allele are at decreased risk of
vascular complications as compared to diabetic individuals with the Hp
2 allele. METHODS: The naturally occurring (wild type) mouse Hp is a
class 1 Hp allele. We examined renal hypertrophy in wild-type mice, Hp
knockout mice (Hp 0), and in mice with the Hp 2 allele (Hp 2) with and
without diabetes. RESULTS: In the absence of diabetes, we found that
renal hypertrophy was significantly increased in Hp 0 mice and that
this could be prevented with vitamin E. There was no difference between
wild type and Hp 2 mice with regard to renal hypertrophy in the absence
of diabetes. However, in the presence of diabetes, Hp 2 mice
demonstrated a significant increase in renal hypertrophy as compared to
wild-type mice. CONCLUSIONS: These results support a direct linkage
between diabetic vascular disease and the Hp genotype. These
Hp-modified mice may serve as a platform on which to test a variety of
pharmacological agents in order to decrease diabetic vascular disease.
Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
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