Analysis of altered mRNA expression profiles in the genetic hypercalciuric stone-forming (GHS) rat compared to normal SD rat

Urolithiasis is a common desease to human beings, and idiopathic hypercalciuria (IH) is an important risk factor of calcium urolithiasis, previous studies strongly suggested that the decreased tubular Ca2+ reabsorption played a key role of hypercalciuria. However,the molecular mechanism of IH-urolithiasis formation is still not completely elucidated. GHS rat is regarded as an ideal animal model of calcium urolithiasis, reveals many identical pathophysiologic characteristics with IH patients . We analyzed mRNA expression profiles of the kidney of GHS rat in order to find out the target genes and signaling pathways in the pathogenesis of IH. The colony of GHS rats were created by the selective breeding of male and female SD rats with the highest 24 hour urine excretions (doi: 10.3390/ijms160716313). In the 28 generation, GHS rats have stabilized excreted significant higher level of urine calcium than wild-type normal SD rats, and reveals many identical pathophysiologic characteristics with IH patients, such as normal serum Ca2+, hypercalciuria, elevated intestinal Ca2+ resorption and a tendency to lose calcium from the bone. This present study examined the mRNAs expression of three pairs of GHS rats’ kidneys with normal SD rats by microarrays.