Renovascular hypertension: Effects of mesenchymal stem cells in the contralateral hypertensive kidney in rats.

ABSTRACTMesenchymal stem cells (MSC) induced neovascularization and improved renal morphology of the stenotic kidney in 2 kidneys-1 clip (2K-1C) model of renovascular hypertension. The present study evaluated the effects of MSC in the contralateral hypertensive kidney. Three weeks after left renal artery occlusion, MSC were injected into the tail vein of the 2K-1C rats. Renal function and morphology were analyzed in both kidneys. Labeled MSC were found in stenotic and contralateral kidneys. Hypertensive 2K-1C animals presented increased circulating levels of Angiotensin II (Ang II) and renin. MSC prevented the progressive increase of blood pressure and reduced circulating Ang II and renin levels. Stenotic kidney showed reduced renal plasma flow (RPF) and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), whereas the contralateral kidney had a tendency (p > 0.5) of reduction in GFR in spite of unchanged RPF. MSC treatment caused an improvement in GFR with no effect of on RPF in the stenotic kidney. Contralateral kidney sho...