Can we target tubular damage to prevent renal function decline in diabetes?

The glomerulus has been at the center of attention as the primary site of injury in diabetic nephropathy (DN). Although there is no question that there are changes seen in the glomerulus, it is also well known that tubulointerstitial changes are a prominent component of the disease, especially in patients with type 2 diabetes. The level of albuminuria and DN disease progression best correlate with tubular degeneration and interstitial fibrosis. Nephrotoxicity studies in animals reveal that albuminuria is a highly sensitive marker of early tubular toxicity even in the absence of glomerular pathology. Urinary biomarker data in human beings support the view that proximal tubule injury contributes in a primary way, rather than in a secondary manner, to the development of early DN. I present a model in which very specific injury to the proximal tubule in vivo in the mouse results in severe inflammation, loss of blood vessels, interstitial fibrosis, and glomerulosclerosis. Increased glucose levels, free glycation adducts, reactive oxygen species, and oxidized lipids result in toxicity to tubule epithelia. This results in loss of cells with a stimulus to repair the epithelium. However, because of sublethal injury there is cell-cycle arrest in epithelial cells attempting to replace damaged cells. This leads to epithelial secretion of both profibrogenic growth factors, collagens, and factors that cause pericytes to proliferate and differentiate into myofibroblasts, leading to endothelial destabilization and capillary rarefaction. Local ischemia ensues with further injury to the tubules, more profibrogenic mediators, matrix protein deposition, fibrosis, and glomerulosclerosis.