[74] AngII facilitates inflammatory cell chemotaxis and upregulates genes that encode pro-inflammatory proteins, including nuclear factor (NF)-κB and monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1.[75] Thus, mast cells may contribute to inflammation in ADPKD by facilitating chymase and AngII production. Although macrophages are typically recruited during infection,[76] they have been identified in both infected and non-infected ADPKD kidneys.[11] Moreover, interstitial inflammation has been observed in adult ADPKD patients with selleck chemicals no history of renal infection and in newborn ADPKD infants.[77] Although this does not exclude infection as a

cause of macrophage infiltration, it indicates that macrophage infiltration probably is an intrinsic feature of ADPKD pathophysiology rather than an anti-microbial response. If so, pro-inflammatory chemoattractants and cytokines may be the chief mechanisms promoting inflammatory cell accumulation in PKD. MCP-1 (or Ccl2) is a chemokine that recruits monocytes and other cells to regions of inflammation,[78, 79] and mediates cell infiltration in renal inflammatory states including diabetic nephropathy[80] and glomerulonephritis.[81] MCP-1 has been detected in the cyst fluid

of ADPKD patients.[82] Furthermore, urinary MCP-1 levels were higher in ADPKD patients compared with non-ADPKD individuals (mean 511 pg/mL vs 194 pg/mL).[82] Higher MCP-1 was associated with worse renal function (as assessed by serum creatinine).[82] More recently, the longitudinal CRISP (Consortium for Radiologic MI-503 in vivo Imaging Studies of PKD) study identified that a urinary MCP-1 level above 410 pg/mg was a predictor of stage 3 chronic kidney disease in ADPKD (sensitivity 0.80, specificity 0.62; P = 0.02).[83] Animal models Progesterone of ADPKD display abnormalities in MCP-1 that parallel those observed in humans. In Han:SPRD rats, renal MCP-1 mRNA was elevated in homozygous rats compared with wild-type controls.[35] Homozygous animals consistently

displayed higher MCP-1 mRNA expression compared with heterozygous and wild-type rats until postnatal week 3, whereby the homozygous animals died of renal failure. Heterozygotes displayed higher MCP-1 mRNA expression compared with wild-type rats at all stages of life.[35] Heterozygous males also displayed higher MCP-1 mRNA than females, in whom disease progression was slower and less severe.[35] Furthermore, the elevations in MCP-1 mRNA coincided with increased numbers of CD68-positive macrophages,[35] suggesting that the chemoattractant may have induced inflammatory cell infiltration. Preliminary data also show that cpk mice with a knockout of Ccl2 have improved renal function as assessed by BUN, compared with cpk/Ccl2+/+ mice.[84] An in vitro model also confirmed that Pkd1−/− (PC1-deficient) tubular cells have significantly higher expression of MCP-1 mRNA than Pkd1fl/− cells.