INDUCTION OF GELATINOLYTIC NEUTRAL PROTEINASE SECRETION BY LIPID PEROXIDE IN CULTURED MESANGIAL CELLS

To investigate whether lipid peroxides in tissue and/or blood play an important role in the injury. to mesangial cells and glomerular structural proteins, we studied the effect of linoleic acid hydroperoxide (LHO) on mesangial cells cultured from rat kidneys. When 1.0-3.0 nmol/ml of LHO were added to the culture, the production of 70-kDa gelatinolytic neutral proteinase by mesangial cells was enhanced without morphological damage. The production of the enzyme, however, was inhibited by an addition of 4.0 or 5.0 nmol/ml of LHO and a microscopic examination also demonstrated marked injury to mesangial cells in the presence of these concentrations of LHO. These data suggest that there is a possibility that increased lipid peroxides in tissue and/or blood play a role in the injury to mesangial cells and glomerular structural proteins leading to mesangiopathy.