Submit a comment
Endothelin-1/endothelin-B receptor–mediated increases in NHE3 activity in chronic metabolic acidosis
Abstract
Decreases in blood pH activate NHE3, the proximal tubular apical membrane Na/H antiporter. In cultured renal epithelial cells, activation of the endothelin-B (ETB) receptor increases NHE3 activity. To examine the role of the ETB receptor in the response to acidosis in vivo, the present studies examined ETB receptor–deficient mice, rescued from neonatal lethality by expression of a dopamine β-hydroxylase promoter/ETB receptor transgene (Tg/Tg:ETB–/– mice). In proximal tubule suspensions from Tg/Tg:ETB+/– mice, 10–8 M endothelin-1 (ET-1) increased NHE3 activity, but this treatment had no effect on tubules from Tg/Tg:ETB–/– mice. Acid ingestion for 7 days caused a greater decrease in blood HCO3– concentration in Tg/Tg:ETB–/– mice compared with Tg/Tg:ETB+/+ and Tg/Tg:ETB+/– mice. Whereas acid ingestion increased apical membrane NHE3 by 42–46% in Tg/Tg:ETB+/+ and Tg/Tg:ETB+/– mice, it had no effect on NHE3 in Tg/Tg:ETB–/– mice. In C57BL/6 mice, excess acid ingestion increased renal cortical preproET-1 mRNA expression 2.4-fold and decreased preproET-3 mRNA expression by 37%. On a control diet, Tg/Tg:ETB–/– mice had low rates of ammonium excretion, which could not be attributed to an inability to acidify the urine, as well as hypercitraturia, with increased titratable acid excretion. Acid ingestion increased ammonium excretion, citrate absorption, and titratable acid excretion to the same levels in Tg/Tg:ETB–/– and Tg/Tg:ETB+/+ mice. In conclusion, metabolic acidosis increases ET-1 expression, which increases NHE3 activity via the ETB receptor.
Authors
Kamel Laghmani, Patricia A. Preisig, Orson W. Moe, Masashi Yanagisawa, Robert J. Alpern
Guidelines
The Editorial Board will only consider comments that are deemed relevant and of interest to readers. The Journal will not post data that have not been subjected to peer review; or a comment that is essentially a reiteration of another comment.
- Comments appear on the Journal’s website and are linked from the original article’s web page.
- Authors are notified by email if their comments are posted.
- The Journal reserves the right to edit comments for length and clarity.
- No appeals will be considered.
- Comments are not indexed in PubMed.
Specific requirements
- Maximum length, 400 words
- Entered as plain text or HTML
- Author’s name and email address, to be posted with the comment
- Declaration of all potential conflicts of interest (even if these are not ultimately posted); see the Journal’s conflict-of-interest policy
- Comments may not include figures
Copyright © 2025 American Society for Clinical Investigation
ISSN: 0021-9738 (print), 1558-8238 (online)