The period of rapid growth and hormonal changes during adolescence can make the kidneys more vulnerable to renal ischemic injury.
- The hormonal surge during puberty could increase the risk of kidney damage in adolescent girls.
- In female mice, this increased susceptibility to renal ischemia is partly mediated by modulation of IGF-1R signaling.
- This study “highlights the need for further research into the long-term impact of puberty on kidney health,” according to the authors.
“While epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated the protective effects of estrogen and female sex on the kidneys in adulthood, some epidemiological data have shown worsening kidney function during puberty when estrogen production increases. However, the molecular mechanisms explaining these contradictory phenomena remain unknown. indicated researchers from Kyoto University (Japan). This is why they decided to carry out work published in the journal Kidney International.
Puberty: a high risk of kidney damage linked to sex hormones mediated by IGF-1R signaling
For the purposes of the study, scientists used a female mouse model to evaluate the impact of female sex hormones before and after puberty and during adulthood. They removed the ovaries to stop hormone production in mice at different life stages, then induced an ischemic injury to measure the kidneys’ response. The results showed that rodents whose hormone production was stopped before puberty were better protected against kidney damage than those whose sex hormone production increased rapidly as at puberty. However, animals whose hormone production had stopped in adulthood, such as at menopause, were more vulnerable to ischemic injury than mice whose sex hormone production remained normal. Thus, this data “raise important questions about how sex hormones influence kidney health across the lifespan.”
The team found that the high likelihood of experiencing ischemic damage from the pubertal sex hormone surge was linked to “downregulation of insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 (IGF-1R) expression, which is important for tissue growth, in the proximal tubules (an active region of the kidney).” Clearly, IGF-1R levels in the kidneys decreased during and after puberty, while levels remained higher in the kidneys of mice whose hormone production had been stopped before puberty.
Suppression of Igf-1r during postnatal growth renders proximal tubular cells sensitive
According to the research, mice lacking Igf-1r (the gene responsible for producing IGF-1R) in their proximal tubules during postnatal kidney growth had increased susceptibility to ischemic injury. “These results suggest that strong involvement of IGF-1R signaling during postnatal growth helps protect the kidneys from ischemic injury in mice that were not exposed to the hormonal surge of puberty.”
The authors believe the implications of this study go beyond basic science, because understanding how sex hormones regulate susceptibility to kidney damage could lead to better treatments for kidney disease. “It highlights the need for further research into the long-term impact of puberty on kidney health,” they concluded.
