Direct toxic effect of the radiocontrast agent diatrizoate on renal proximal tubule cells

The pathophysiology of radiocontrast agent-induced acute renal failure is presently unclear. To test for a possible direct deleterious effect of diatrizoate, a commonly used radiocontrast agent, on renal tubule cells, suspensions enriched in rabbit proximal tubule segments were incubated with sodium diatrizoate. After these manipulations, a variety of well-established metabolic parameters to quantitate the extent of cell injury were measured. Diatrizoate sodium (25 mM) produced significant declines in tubule K+, ATP, and total adenine nucleotide (TAN) contents, significant decreases in tubule basal and uncoupled respiratory rates, and a significant increase in tubule Ca2+ content, demonstrating the development of cell injury induced by diatrizoate. These effects were dose related and were progressive with increasing incubation time from 97.5 to 157.5 min. The effects of N-methylglucosamine (meglumine) on renal tubule cell viability was also evaluated. Meglumine is a low molecular weight amino-substituted cationic compound and is commonly added to radiocontrast dye solutions. Meglumine (25 mM) had significant effects to lower tubule K+ content and to decrease both tubule basal and uncoupled respiratory rates. These alterations were slightly additive to diatrizoate in that meglumine diatrizoate produced greater alterations in tubule-metabolic parameters compared to diatrizoate sodium. A period of 22.5 min of hypoxia also caused deleterious changes in each of these quantitative indices of cell viability, and diatrizoate potentiated the degree of hypoxia-induced cell injury. These results demonstrate that the radiocontrast agent, diatrizoate, is directly toxic to renal proximal tubule cells. Meglumine, a cation added to diatrizoate containing radiocontrast solutions, also had a moderate toxic effect on renal epithelial cells and added to the toxicity of diatrizoate. Diatrizoate also aggravated the degree of cell injury induced by a 22.5-min period of hypoxia. These experiments thus provide evidence for a direct toxic effect of diatrizoate on proximal renal tubule cells which was additive to hypoxic cell injury.