Increased glomerular permeability to negatively charged Ficoll relative to neutral Ficoll in rats

It is established that the glomerular filter sieves macromolecules based on their size, shape, and charge. Anionic proteins are thus retarded compared with their neutral or cationic counterparts. However, recent studies have indicated that charge effects are small, or even "anomalous," for polysaccharides. We therefore investigated the impact of charge on the glomerular permeability to polysaccharides by comparing sieving coefficients (theta; primary urine-to-plasma concentration ratio) for negatively charged, carboxymethylated (CM) FITC-Ficoll and FITC-dextran with their neutral counterparts. For these probes, theta were determined in anesthetized Wistar rats [269 +/- 2.7 g (+/- SE; n = 36)], whose ureters were cannulated for urine sampling. The glomerular filtration rate was assessed using FITC- inulin. Polysaccharides were constantly infused, and after equilibration, urine was collected and a midpoint plasma sample was taken. Size and concentration determinations of the FITC-labeled polysaccharides were achieved by size-exclusion HPLC (HPSEC). For CM-Ficoll, theta was significantly increased (32 times at 55 angstrom) compared with that of uncharged Ficoll. A small increase in theta for CM-dextran compared with neutral dextran was also observed (1.8 times at 55 angstrom). In conclusion, negatively charged Ficoll relative to neutral Ficoll was found to be markedly hyperpermeable across the glomerular filter. Furthermore, negatively charged Ficoll was observed to be larger on HPSEC compared with its neutral counterpart of the same molecular weight. It is proposed that the introduction of negative charges in the "dendrimeric" cross-linked Ficoll molecule may alter its configuration, so as to make it more extended, and conceivably, more flexible, thereby increasing its glomerular permeability.