Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier: a potential target for diabetic nephropathy

Abstract Background Mitochondrial dysfunction contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 1 (MPC1) and mitochondrial pyruvate carrier 2 (MPC2) play a bottleneck role in the transport of pyruvate into mitochondrial across the mitochondrial inner membrane. A previous study showed that increasing mitochondrial pyruvate carrier content might ameliorate diabetic kidney disease in db/db mice. However, the expression status of MPC1 and MPC2 in patients with DN is unclear. Methods Patients with primary glomerulonephropathy (PGN, n = 30), PGN with diabetes mellitus (PGN-DM, n = 30) and diabetic nephropathy (DN, n = 30) were included. MPC1 and MPC2 protein levels were examined by immunohistochemistry. The expression of MPC in different groups was evaluated by the Kruskal-Wallis test. Spearman’s rank correlation was performed for correlation analysis between MPC levels and clinical factors. Results Both MPC1 and MPC2 were localized in renal tubules. Levels of MPC1 and MPC2 were lower in DN patients than in PGN patients and in PGN patients with DM, whereas there were no differences in MPC1 and MPC2 levels among DN stage II to stage IV. Moreover, both MPC1 and MPC2 levels were significantly correlated with serum creatinine, BUN and eGFR in patients with DN, whereas no analogous trend was observed in nondiabetic kidney disease. Conclusions Our study indicated that MPC localized in renal tubules, which were significantly decreased in DN. MPC was associated with clinical features, especially those representing renal functions.