Overview: Obesity: What Does It Have to Do with Kidney Disease?
Christine K. Abrass
Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington
Correspondence to Dr. Christine K. Abrass, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle, WA 98108. Phone: 206-277-3242; Fax: 206-277-3436; E-mail: cabrass{at}u.washington.edu
Obesity has become a national epidemic, with 65% of Americanscurrently above ideal body weight (1,2). It is widely recognizedthat obesity contributes to morbidity and mortality from diabetes,heart disease, stroke, and some cancers, yet the important rolethat it plays in progression of kidney disease is rarely mentioned.It is the goal of this Frontiers to raise awareness of the importanceof obesity to chronic kidney disease. In each decade of thelast two, the number of people with end-stage kidney diseasehas doubled, and it is estimated that 600,000 people will requiredialysis treatment by 2010 (3). Moreover, it is estimated that20 million people in the United States have either persistentproteinuria or substantial kidney damage (3,4). Although thesenumbers represent all forms of kidney disease, hypertensionand type 2 diabetes account for the largest proportion. Obesityis mechanistically tied to renal disease associated with hypertensionand type 2 diabetes. This Frontiers reviews several key aspectsof the relationship of obesity to chronic kidney disease.
Obesity is the phenotypic hallmark of the metabolic syndrome(also referred to as the dysmetabolic syndrome, the insulinresistance syndrome, and syndrome X), which is characterizedby insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and dyslipidemia. Themetabolic syndrome contributes to the development of type 2diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease (5). Concernsabout the epidemic of obesity have fueled research. Considerableprogress has been made in defining central control of food intake(6,7), adipose tissue as an endocrine organ and the factorsthat is senses and secretes (8), and the feedback control betweenthe central nervous system and fat that regulates body weight(9,10). In addition to adverse consequences to the health ofobese individuals, obesity during pregnancy has been linkedto future risk for the development of type 2 diabetes and hypertensionin the offspring when they reach adulthood (11,12). Becausethis has such important implications for generations to come,understanding and preventing metabolic syndrome is of immediateimportance.
At the annual meeting of the American Society of Nephrologyin November 2003, Randy Seeley and Barbara Hansen reviewed thecentral mechanisms that control satiety and food intake andthe bodys sensing of adipose mass and weight determinationin animals and humans (8,9,13). A large body of evidence convincinglyconcludes that genetic and epigenetic factors determine setpoints and that each of us is programmed to defend that weight.These data explain why it is so difficult to lose weight andwhy most individuals who do, regain it in a relatively shorttime, yet these data fail to explain the obesity epidemic. Whyis the set point shifting? There is growing agreement that environmentis driving the epidemic (2). Modern lifestyles encourage overconsumptionof energy and discourage expenditure of energy. Minor (<100kcal/d) gaps in the balance of energy consumption and expenditurelead to gradual but steady weight gain (2,8). Although eachof us has some control over the environmental aspects of ourown life, our mothers nutritional status influenced theestablishment of our set point, and as obesity becomes morecommon, through this effect, it will have a growing impact onour children and future generations (12,14). Thus, modificationof this epidemic is crucial to health and to the developmentof kidney disease today and for the future.
There are many pathways by which the metabolic syndrome, whichis characterized by obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia,and dyslipidemia, might contribute to renal disease. These relationshipsare outlined in Figure 1. Most reviews indicate that insulinresistance with the compensatory increase in insulin secretionis the fundamental abnormality of the metabolic syndrome. Thisconcept is supported by studies of normoglycemic, first-degreerelatives of individuals with type 2 diabetes who have insulinresistance and hyperinsulinemia (15), and in Pima Indian children,in whom insulin resistance precedes the development of obesityand diabetes (16). Because obesity also aggravates insulin resistanceand both genetic and epigenetic factors have been implicatedin the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome, there may bevarious primary defects that lead to its development. The contributionof dyslipidemia typical of the metabolic syndrome (elevatedtriglycerides, intermediate-sized LDL particles, and low HDL)to the development of progressive renal disease has been reviewedextensively in other settings (1721); thus, althoughvery important, it is not included in this article.
Figure 1. Obesity and kidney disease. Diagram shows relationships between components of the metabolic syndrome and the development of renal disease. DM2, type 2 diabetes mellitus, HTN, hypertension.
For many years, it has been known that obesity is associatedwith focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, yet the degreeof the association and its pathogenesis were unknown (reviewedin reference 22). Recently, its incidence has increased in associationwith increased obesity (22). There have been many clues thatinsulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia contributes to this association.Nearly 30 y ago, Stout et al. (23) first posited that hyperinsulinemiamight contribute to vascular injury by stimulated smooth muscleproliferation in the media of vessels. In studies of rats withstreptozotocin-induced diabetes, typical nephropathy developsonly in those that have poor glycemic control and also are treatedwith insulin (24). Zatz and Brenner (25) showed that in contrastto insulin-deficient animals, insulin-treated diabetic ratshave increased intraglomerular pressures and that angiotensinconverting enzyme inhibitors reverse this effect and protectagainst glomerular injury (26). Kreisberg (27) showed that insulinsensitizes cells to the contractile effects of angiotensin II,providing the link between insulin and angiotensin IImediatedinjury. Abrass et al. (24) showed that insulin treatment ofnormal rats was associated with glomerular hypertrophy, newexpression of interstitial collagens, and glomerulosclerosis.Experiments of mesangial cells in culture confirmed the directrole of insulin in mediating the changes in extracellular matrixsynthesis (28,29). Recently, Cusumano et al. (30) confirmeda link between hyperinsulinemia and glomerular hypertrophy beforethe onset of diabetes in rhesus monkeys. Although treatmentof diabetes with exogenous insulin is necessary to improve glycemiccontrol, considerable data show that hyperinsulinemia can mediateglomerular injury. Thus, hyperinsulinemia associated with obesitymay contribute to the growing rates of ESRD, despite the slowedrate of progression in individual patients through improvedglycemic control. These seeming paradoxes may be resolved throughnew understanding of the mechanisms of induction and cellularconsequences of insulin resistance.
In this Frontiers, Susan Bagby (31) reviews the clinical significanceof obesity and its contributions to the development of renaldisease and strategies for management. She briefly reviews newconcepts related to fetal origins of acquired insulin resistanceand the contribution to adult disease. Obesity-associated gestationaldiabetes influences pancreatic development in utero and thedevelopment of insulin resistance, hypertension, and type 2diabetes in the offspring when they reach adulthood (12,32)(Table 1). Growing interest in the environmental impact on thegenome through epigenetic modifications will undoubtedly leadto new insights into the epidemic of obesity that the UnitedStates has witnessed over the past three decades.
Table 1. Diabetes: Fetal origins of adult diseasea
Brent Wisse (33) reviews the feedback loop between adipose tissueand the central nervous system that controls body weight regulation(34,35). Cytokines that participate in feedback control, includingleptin, adiponectin, angiotensin II, TNF-, IL-6, and others,have been postulated to contribute to vascular injury and glomerulosclerosis(36). A commentary by John Sedor and Jeff Schelling addressesthe specific application of these concepts to the kidney (37).This will raise potential avenues for future research to definethe link between obesity and renal disease.
The role of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)in the pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance has receivedconsiderable attention. PPAR play important roles in regulationof cellular cholesterol and triglyceride metabolism with directeffects on insulin sensitivity (3840). Not only can agonistsof these receptors improve insulin sensitivity and aid in thetreatment of diabetes, but also there is evidence that fundamentalabnormalities in this system may underlie the development ofinsulin resistance and obesity (38,39). Correction of theseabnormalities has prevented the development of obesity and type2 diabetes in animals. Agonists for these receptors, by modifyingcellular lipid metabolism and direct effects on mesangial matrixsynthesis, can prevent or reverse diabetic glomerulosclerosis(4143). Youfei Guan (44) reviews the details of the roleof these receptors in the metabolic syndrome and the kidney.
Hypertension and associated abnormalities in the renin-angiotensinsystem have long been known to contribute to the rate of progressionof renal disease. Recent data indicate that the subset of individualswho have hypertension, who are nondippers and have elevatedinsulin levels and microalbuminuria, are the ones who developsignificant renal and vascular disease (4547). The relationshipof this risk to obesity and abnormalities in lipids, insulinresistance, and function of the PPAR system has recently beenelucidated (48). In the final article in this series, Jim Sowersand colleagues review these relationships (49).
How does microalbuminuria fit into this scenario? Is it a manifestationof the metabolic syndrome? It is well recognized that the presenceof microalbuminuria in patients with diabetes predicts futuredevelopment of overt diabetic nephropathy. There is also substantialevidence that this risk is genetically determined and has ledto searches for a nephropathy gene. As careful studies haveincluded normal populations, 15% of "normal" individuals havemicroalbuminuria. Furthermore, among hypertensive individuals,those with hyperinsulinemia have microalbuminuria and an increasedrate of chronic kidney and cardiovascular disease (5052).As shown in Figure 2, the presence of insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemiamay define the subset of normal, obese, hypertensive, and diabeticindividuals with an increased risk for developing progressivekidney disease. The presence of microalbuminuria may be a surrogatemarker for insulin resistance and the risk for progression fromany renal insult or injury. In the effort to identify individualswho are at risk for renal disease with early intervention toprevent progression, these relationships deserve further study.
Figure 2. Microalbuminuria: Relationship to the metabolic syndrome. (A) Fifteen percent of the normal population has microalbuminuria. (B) Shows overlap of subsets of individuals who have obesity (OBS; 15 to 20%), hypertension (HTN; 5 to 40%), and diabetes (DM; 15 to 40%) and have microalbuminuria (yellow). This group is at increased risk for cardiovascular disease and renal disease, which is usually associated with insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia.
Obesity and its contribution to chronic kidney disease are ofutmost importance to all of us. As nephrologists, we must faceits contribution to the growth in our dialysis population. Wemust recognize the risk of obesity to future generations andparticulate in strategies for prevention. The impact of theobesity epidemic and its consequences will likely touch us personallyas we and the world population age.
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