Vascular endothelial growth factor B-mediated fatty acid flux in the adipose-kidney axis contributes to lipotoxicity in diabetic kidney disease

A common observation in diabetic kidney disease is lipid accumulation, but the mechanism(s) underlying this pathology is unknown. Inhibition of Vascular endothelial growth factor B (VEGF-B) signaling was shown to prevent glomerular lipid accumulation and ameliorated diabetic kidney disease in experimental models. Here, we examined kidney biopsies from patients with Type 2 (84%) and Type 1 diabetes (16%), combined with data mining of RNA-seq dataset analyses in patients with diabetic kidney disease. In glomeruli, mesangial cell-derived VEGF-B expression was increased, and glomerular lipid accumulation positively correlated with impaired kidney function. Tubular lipid accumulation also associated with kidney dysfunction but was independent of tubular-derived VEGF-B expression. In vitro, the uptake of the fatty acid analogue, BODIPY-FA, was quantified. VEGF-B treatment increased BODIPY-FA uptake in endothelial cells, whilst pre-incubation with neutralizing antibodies against VEGF-B and its receptor VEGFR1 abolished this uptake. Transcriptome analyses of kidney and white adipose tissue from diabetic macaques showed that VEGF-B expression was higher in white adipose tissue than in kidney, and expression of VEGF-B was increased in white adipose tissue from patients with diabetic kidney disease. Analyses in diabetic transgenic mice demonstrated that expression of VEGF-B in adipocytes determined the lipolytic activity, dyslipidemia, kidney lipid accumulation and the development of diabetic kidney disease. Overall, VEGF-B is a regulator of kidney lipotoxicity in diabetic kidney disease, by controlling white adipose tissue lipolysis as well as endothelial fatty acid transport in glomeruli. Our data propose that assessment of kidney lipid accumulation, and VEGF-B expression can serve as biomarkers for early diabetic kidney disease.