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In proteinuric renal diseases, the serine protease (SP) plasmin activates the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) by cleaving its γ subunit. We previously demonstrated that a high-salt (HS) diet provoked hypertension and proteinuria in Dahl salt-sensitive (DS) rats, accompanied by γENaC activation, which were attenuated by camostat mesilate (CM), an SP inhibitor. However, the effects of CM on plasmin activity in DS rats remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects of CM on plasmin activity, ENaC activation, and podocyte injury in DS rats. The DS rats were divided into the control diet, HS diet (8.0% NaCl), and HS+CM diet (0.1% CM) groups. After weekly blood pressure measurement and 24-h urine collection, the rats were sacrificed at 5 weeks. The HS group exhibited hypertension, massive proteinuria, increased urinary plasmin, and γENaC activation; CM treatment suppressed these changes. CM prevented plasmin(ogen) attachment to podocytes and mitigated podocyte injury by reducing the number of apoptotic glomerular cells, inhibiting protease-activated receptor-1 activation, and suppressing inflammatory and fibrotic cytokine expression. Our findings highlight the detrimental role of urinary plasmin in the pathogenesis of salt-sensitive hypertension and glomerular injury. Targeting plasmin with SP inhibitors, such as CM, may be a promising therapeutic approach for these conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Liddle's syndrome is a rare monogenic form of hypertension caused by truncating or missense mutations in the C termini of the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) β or γ subunits. Patients with this syndrome present with early onset of hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, hyporeninemia and hypoaldosteronism, and a potassium-sparing diuretics (triamterene or amiloride) can drastically improves the disease condition. Although elderly patients having these characteristics were considered to have Liddle's syndrome or Liddle's-like syndrome, no previous report has indicated that Liddle's-like syndrome could be caused by nephrotic syndrome of primary glomerular disease, which is characterized by urinary excretion of > 3 g of protein/day plus edema and hypoalbuminemia, or has explained how the activity function of ENaC could be affected in the setting of high proteinuria.Case Presentation: A 65-year-old Japanese man presented with nephrotic syndrome. He had no remarkable family history, but had a medical history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia. On admission, hypertension, spironolactone-resistant hypokalemia (2.43 mEq/l), hyporeninemic hypoaldosteronism, and metabolic alkalosis, which suggested Liddle's syndrome, were observed. Treatment with triamterene together with a steroid for nephrotic syndrome resulted in rapid and remarkable effective on improvements of hypertension, hypokalemia, and edema of the lower extremities. Renal biopsy revealed membranous nephropathy (MN) as the cause of nephrotic syndrome, and advanced gastric cancer was identified on screening examination for cancers that could be associated with the development of MN. After total gastrectomy, triamterene was not required and proteinuria decreased. A mutation in the β or γ subunits of the ENaC gene was not identified.Conclusion: We reported for the first time a case of Liddle's-like syndrome associated with nephrotic syndrome secondary to MN. Aberrant activation of ENaC was suggested transient during the period of high proteinuria, and the activation was reversible with a decrease in proteinuria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]