Sulfur-Containing Amino Acids, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Sulfur Compounds on Kidney Health and Disease

Hydrogen sulfide (HS) plays a decisive role in kidney health and disease. HS can ben synthesized via enzymatic and non-enzymatic pathways, as well as gut microbial origins. Kidney disease can originate in early life induced by various maternal insults throughout the process, namely renal programming. Sulfur-containing amino acids and sulfate are essential in normal pregnancy and fetal development. Dysregulated HS signaling behind renal programming is linked to deficient nitric oxide, oxidative stress, the aberrant renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and gut microbiota dysbiosis. In animal models of renal programming, treatment with sulfur-containing amino acids, N-acetylcysteine, HS donors, and organosulfur compounds during gestation and lactation could improve offspring's renal outcomes. In this review, we summarize current knowledge regarding sulfide/sulfate implicated in pregnancy and kidney development, current evidence supporting the interactions between HS signaling and underlying mechanisms of renal programming, and recent advances in the beneficial actions of sulfide-related interventions on the prevention of kidney disease. Modifying HS signaling is the novel therapeutic and preventive approach to reduce the global burden of kidney disease; however, more work is required to translate this into clinical practice.