Mice treated with both PPG and AOAA developed a urine concentration defect in response to dehydration that was accompanied by reduced AQP-2 protein expression.
<i>Tgr5</i><sup>-/-</sup> mice exhibited an attenuated ability to concentrate urine in response to dehydration, which was associated with decreased AQP2 expression in the kidney inner medulla.
For this reason we used two different approaches: i) a morphometric study, which consists in measuring the effect of dehydration on body and kidneys weights as well as the report kidney weight/body weight, ii) By immunohistochemistry, we proceed to study the effect of dehydration on the immunoreactivity of central vasopressin (AVP) and the kidney aquaporin-2 (AQP-2) which is a channel protein that allows water to permeate across cell membranes.
Prior knowledge of AVPR2 or AQP2 mutations in NDI families and perinatal mutation testing is of direct clinical value and can avert the physical and mental retardation associated with repeated episodes of dehydration.
However, when the body is dehydrated and needs to retain water, AQP2 relocates to the apical membrane, allowing water reabsorption from the urinary tubule into the cell.
Congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) is a disorder associated with mutations in either the AVPR2 or AQP2 gene, causing the inability of patients to concentrate their pro-urine, which leads to a high risk of dehydration.
To determine a correlation between A VPR2 mutations and urinary AQP2 excretion, immunobloting was used to detect AQP2 in the urine of patients with CNDI before and after a dehydration test.
Furthermore, the mutant AQP2 formed a heterooligomer with wild-type AQP2 and showed a dominant-negative effect on the normal apical sorting of wild-type AQP2 even under dehydration.
Prior knowledge of AVPR2 or AQP2 mutations in NDI families and perinatal mutation testing is of direct clinical value because early diagnosis and treatment can avert the physical and mental retardation associated with repeated episodes of dehydration.