Very high daily intraperitoneal doses of carbonyl compounds affect the morphology, but not the exchange characteristics, of rat peritoneum

Animal Models in Peritoneal Dialysis Research: A Need for Consensus

The development of an adequate animal model for peritoneal research remains an object of concern. In vivo peritoneal dialysis (PD) research is hampered by the large variety of available models that make interpretation of results and comparison of studies very difficult. Species and strain of experimental animals, method of peritoneal access, study duration, measures of solute transport and ultrafiltration, and sampling for histology differ substantially among the various research groups. A collective effort to discuss the shortcomings and merits of the different experimental models may lead to a consensus on a standardized animal model of PD.

Evidence for Less Irritation to the Peritoneal Membrane in Rats Dialyzed with Solutions Low in Glucose Degradation Products

Background

Acidic pH and the presence of glucose degradation products (GDP) are believed to compromise the biocompatibility of peritoneal dialysis fluids (PDF). The present study examines the effects of long-term exposure to GDP and low pH by comparing conventional PDF and a new, neutral pH, low GDP solution.

Methods

All experiments were performed using a chronic infusion model of dialysis in nonuremic rats. The animals were treated for 6 weeks with 2 daily injections of 4.25% glucose-containing PDF. The following PDF were tested: CAPD3 (single-chamber bag, low pH, high GDP), CAPD3 pH 7.4 (single-chamber bag, neutral pH, high GDP), CAPD3-Balance (double-chamber bag, neutral pH, low GDP). All test solutions were obtained from Fresenius Medical Care, Bad Homburg, Germany.

Results

After 6 weeks of exposure, peritoneal permeability to water, urea, creatinine, glucose, and sodium, assessed by peritoneal equilibration test, was similar in all groups. However, compared to other PDF, dialysis with CAPD3-Balance was associated with reduced concentrations of protein and hyaluronan in the dialysate, decreased peritoneal eosinophilia, and reduced dialysate levels of chemokines CCL2/MCP-1 and CCL5/RANTES. Morphologic changes in the peritoneal membrane of CAPD3-Balance-treated animals were much less pronounced and included reduced vascular density, preservation of the mesothelial monolayer and intercellular junction, and no reduplication of the submesothelial basement membrane.

Conclusions

A new generation of PDF with physiologic pH and low GDP level produce less irritation to the peritoneal membrane and better preserve its structural integrity. This effect seems to be related predominantly to minimized GDP concentrations.

Peritoneal Injury by Methylglyoxal in Peritoneal Dialysis

Background

Peritoneal dialysis (PD) is a common treatment for patients with reduced or absent renal function. Long-term PD leads to peritoneal injury with structural changes and functional decline, such as ultrafiltration loss. At worst, peritoneal injury leads to encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis, a serious complication of PD. Glucose degradation products contained in PD fluids contribute to the bioincompatibility of conventional PD fluids. Methylglyoxal (MGO) is an extremely toxic glucose degradation product. The present study examined the injurious effect of MGO on peritoneum in vivo.

Methods

Male Sprague–Dawley rats ( n = 6) were administered PD fluids (pH 5.0) containing 0, 0.66, 2, 6.6, or 20 mmol/L MGO every day for 21 days. On day 22, peritoneal function was estimated by the peritoneal equilibration test. Drained dialysate was analyzed for type IV collagen-7S, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Histological analysis was also performed.

Results

In rats receiving PD fluids containing more than 0.66 mmol/L MGO, peritoneal function decreased significantly and levels of type IV collagen-7S and MMP-2 in drained dialysate increased significantly. In the 20-mmol/L MGO-treated rats, loss of body weight, expression of VEGF, thickening of the peritoneum, and formation of abdominal cocoon were induced. MMP-2 and VEGF were produced by infiltrating cells in the peritoneum. Type IV collagen was detected in basement membrane of microvessels.

Conclusion

MGO induced not only peritoneal injury but also abdominal cocoon formation in vivo. The decline of peritoneal function may result from reconstitution of microvessel basement membrane or neovascularization.

A review of rodent models of peritoneal dialysis and its complications

This article reviews the available rodent models of peritoneal dialysis (PD) that have been developed over the past 20 years and the complications associated with their use. Although there are several methods used in different studies, the focus of this article is not to review or provide detailed summaries of these methods. Rather, this article reviews the most common methods of establishing a dialysis model in rodents, the assays used to observe function of the peritoneum in dialysis, and how these models are adapted to study peritonitis and peritoneal fibrosis. We compared the advantages and disadvantages of different methods, which should be helpful in studies of PD and may provide valuable data for further clinical studies.

Icodextrin Peritoneal Transport In Vitro: Effect of Sodium Deoxycholate, Glucose, and Methylglyoxal

The aim of the in vitro studies was to examine the effect of sodium deoxycholate, glucose, and methylglyoxal on icodextrin peritoneal transfer. The rabbit peritoneum in a modified Ussing chamber was an experimental model. Transport and morphometric analyses were performed. In the first of them, the icodextrin (7.5 g/dL) diffusion from the mesothelial to the interstitial side of the membrane, expressed as a diffusive permeability coefficient (P), was evaluated in the control stage, after chemical modification of the membrane using sodium deoxycholate (104 mg/dL), after the addition of glucose (1.8 g/dL) and methylglyoxal (1 mg/dL), in the separate experimental series. In the second morphometric studies, the thickness and transverse cross-section surface area of native tissue, in 75 min of experiment and after application of sodium deoxycholate, were investigated. In the control conditions, the rate of glucose polymer passage remained constant. A mean value of P +/- SD was 0.194 +/- 0.126 (x10(-4), cm/s) during 120 min of the study. The transfer of icodextrin was enhanced by 224% after 3 min of incubation of the peritoneum with sodium deoxycholate. The introduction of glucose into the circulating medium with icodextrin caused the increase of P values for glucose polymer by 94% during 60 min. In the same conditions, the usage of methylglyoxal did not change transport parameters. Both thickness and transverse cross-section surface area of the native tissue in 75 min of the study did not differ. It was 4.87 microm and 12.50 x 10(2) microm(2) for the mesothelial layer, and 63.83 microm and 208.10 x 10(2) microm(2) for the whole peritoneal membrane. The application of sodium deoxycholate caused the decrease of mesothelium thickness by 20% but the increase of thickness and transverse cross-section surface area of the peritoneum by 37% in comparison with 75 min of experiment. In conclusion, sodium deoxycholate and glucose, but not methylglyoxal, intensify peritoneal transport of icodextrin in vitro. These modifications are probably connected with the exfoliation of the mesothelium and looseness of the interstitium caused by sodium deoxycholate as well as the physical and metabolic influence of glucose on the peritoneum.

Risk factors for encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis in patients who have experienced peritoneal dialysis treatment

BACKGROUND

The present study was conducted to clarify the clinical risk factors related to the development of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS), which is one of the most serious complications in patients undergoing peritoneal dialysis (PD).

METHODS

The records of 78 patients with a history of PD treatment, including 18 with EPS, were retrospectively analyzed (male/female, 51:27; age, 51.8 +/- 11.0 years; PD treatment, 94.1 +/- 42.7 months). The inclusion criteria were: duration of PD more than 24 months; 36-month follow up after discontinuation of PD; available data for dialysate-to-plasma creatinine ratio (D/P Cr), by fast peritoneal equilibration test within 3 months before PD discontinuation; and absence of EPS at PD discontinuation. Analytical parameters included age, sex, underlying renal disease, duration of PD, membrane transport state (higher transporter or lower transporter: D/P cr ratio more than or less than 0.75), number of episodes of peritonitis during PD treatment, performance of peritoneal lavage after PD discontinuation, and reasons for PD withdrawal (ultrafiltration failure, acute peritonitis, social matters).

RESULTS

Significant differences were noted regarding the PD duration, D/P cr, higher membrane transport state, and number of peritonitis episodes during PD. On receiver operating characteristic curves, the cutoff points for EPS were: D/P cr ratio, 0.74; number of peritonitis episodes, 2; and PD duration (months), 115.2. Multivariate analysis, employing the factors age, PD duration, higher membrane transport state, and number of peritonitis episodes, which were selected by stepwise analysis, identified the latter two factors as significant for the development of EPS (odds ratio [OR], 4.0; P = 0.046 and OR, 12.0; P = 0.049, respectively).

CONCLUSIONS

A higher transporter membrane state and the number of peritonitis episodes are factors contributing to the occurrence of EPS in patients who have experienced PD treatment.

Effects of Neutral pH and Reduced Glucose Degradation Products in a New Peritoneal Dialysis Solution on Morphology of Peritoneal Membrane in Rats

BACKGROUND

In vitro studies have shown that pH and glucose degradation products (GDPs) in the dialysate are determinant factors for the biocompatibility of peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment. The present study was thus designed to evaluate whether a newly developed PD solution, which features neutral pH levels and a low GDP concentration, influences tissue damage of the peritoneal membrane in an in vivo setting, and which factor is more critical to the histological changes.

METHODS

Rats were injected 3 times per day during 1 or 4 weeks with 10 ml of various PD fluids (group G, acidic pH, high GDPs; group S, neutral pH, low GDPs; or group A, acidic pH, low GDPs). When the experimental period was over, the mesothelial cell monolayers of the animals were taken and studied with population analysis, and peritoneal membranes were obtained from the abdominal wall for immunohistochemical examination with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) and for measurement of thickness of the peritoneal specimens.

RESULTS

The density of the mesothelial cell monolayer and the number of fibroblast-like cells in group S were significantly less than in group G at 1 and 4 weeks' injection. PCNA-positive nuclei in group S were significantly less than in group G for only the 1-week injection set (group G, 2.03 +/- 0.95; group S, 0.85 +/- 1.18 nuclei/1 x 10(4) microm2). At 4 weeks, the peritoneal thickness of group S (6.32 +/- 0.53 microm) was significantly less than that of group G (7.94 +/- 0.77 microm), There was no significant difference between groups S and A throughout the whole study period except for the result of the number of fibroblast-like cells.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that a PD solution with a neutral pH and low GDPs proved more biocompatible with the peritoneal membrane than a solution with an acidic pH and high GDPs. Furthermore, the level of the GDPs has more impact on tissue damage of the peritoneal membrane than the pH in the short term.

Advanced glycation end products in uremia

The term "advanced glycation end products" (AGEs) stands for a heterogeneous group of amino acid derivatives that are formed via glycation processes between peptide-bound lysine or arginine derivatives and carbonyl compounds, processes originally known from food systems as "Maillard reactions." AGEs accumulate in plasma and tissues with advancing age, diabetes, and particular renal failure. In vivo and in vitro studies indicate that AGEs represent an important class of uremic toxins. This review focuses on the chemistry behind the formation of AGEs, possible mechanisms underlying the accumulation of AGEs in uremia, clinical and therapeutic implications, and possible nutritional consequences.