The complexity of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), hypoxic, and aryl hydrocarbon receptor cell signaling in chronic kidney disease

Early-stage detection of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) is important to treatment that may slow and occasionally halt CKD progression. CKD of diverse etiologies share similar histologic patterns of glomerulosclerosis, tubular atrophy, and interstitial fibrosis. Macro-vascular disease and micro-vascular disease promote tissue ischemia, contributing to injury. Tissue ischemia promotes hypoxia, and this in turn activates the hypoxia-inducible transcription factors (HIFs). HIF-1α and HIF-2α, share a dimer partner, HIF-1β, with the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) and are each activated in CKD and associated with kidney cellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) depletion. The Preiss-Handler, salvage, and de novo pathways regulate NAD biosynthesis and gap-junctions regulate NAD cellular retention. In the Preiss-Handler pathway, niacin forms NAD. Niacin also exhibits crosstalk with HIF and AHR cell signals in the regulation of insulin sensitivity, which is a complication in CKD. Dysregulated enzyme activity in the NAD de novo pathway increases the levels of circulating tryptophan metabolites that activate AHR, resulting in poly-ADP ribose polymerase activation, thrombosis, endothelial dysfunction, and immunosuppression. Therapeutically, metabolites from the NAD salvage pathway increase NAD production and subsequent sirtuin deacetylase activity, resulting in reduced activation of retinoic acid-inducible gene I, p53, NF-κB and SMAD2 but increased activation of FOXO1, PGC-1α, and DNA methyltransferase-1. These post-translational responses may also be initiated through non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which are additionally altered in CKD. Nanoparticles traverse biological systems and can penetrate almost all tissues as disease biomarkers and drug delivery carriers. Targeted delivery of non-coding RNAs or NAD metabolites with nanoparticles may enable the development of more effective diagnostics and therapies to treat CKD.