Podocyte hypertrophy,“adaptation,” and “decompensation” associated with glomerular enlargement and glomerulosclerosis in the aging rat: prevention by calorie …

JE Wiggins, M Goyal, SK Sanden… - Journal of the …, 2005 - journals.lww.com
Whether podocyte depletion could cause the glomerulosclerosis of aging in Fischer 344 rats
at ages 2, 6, 17, and 24 mo was evaluated. Ad libitum–fed rats developed proteinuria and
glomerulosclerosis by 24 mo, whereas calorie-restricted rats did not. No evidence of age-
associated progressive linear loss of podocytes from glomeruli was found. Rather, ad libitum–
fed rats developed glomerular enlargement over time. To accommodate the increased
glomerular volume, podocytes principally underwent hypertrophy, whereas other glomerular …