A highly sensitive oscillatory tubulo-glomerular feedback (TGF) response has previously been demonstrated in normotensive Sprague-Dawley rats. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether such as oscillating TGF-response could be elicited in Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY) and genetically hypertensive rats (SHR) and furthermore if any differences in the TGF-response characteristics between SHR and WKY rats could be detected. The closed loop function of the TGF-system was studied. In 12-18-week-old WKY rats regular oscillations in the intratubular pressure occurred spontaneously. The median frequency were 29.7 mHz (range 20-46.7 mHz). In SHR rats, spontaneous oscillations also occurred, but these were highly irregular. Spontaneous oscillations were more frequent in WKY than in SHR (88% vs. 54%). In both strains, oscillations could be elicited by free flow microperfusion with artificial tubular fluid (ATF). When furosemide was added to the ATF in a concentration of 0.1 mM, the oscillations were abolished in both strains of rats. It is concluded that, in both strains of rats the oscillatory phenomena depend upon TGF activity. It is suggested that the irregular pattern of the oscillations observed only in SHR rats may represent a chaotic process.

Fractional lithium clearance (CLi/CIn), transit time-occlusion time (e-TT/OT), and late proximal tubular fluid-to-plasma inulin ratio [1/(TF/P)In] collected by micropuncture were determined successively in the same rat during Amytal anesthesia. The rats were examined during hydropenia, after partial aortic constriction, or during saline diuresis. There was a linear relationship (r = 0.80) between CLi/CIn and e-TT/OT. The 1/(TF/P)In ratio correlated closely with both CLi/CIn (r = 0.88) and e-TT/OT (r = 0.91) when intraluminal pressure was maintained at the free-flow level during fluid collection. If fluid collection was guided merely by the position of an oil droplet and the luminal diameter, the 1/(TF/P)In data were not correlated with either CLi/CIn or e-TT/OT. Over a wide range of proximal absolute and fractional reabsorption rates the technically simpler lithium clearance and TT/OT methods may provide data on proximal fractional reabsorption that are as accurate and reliable as data obtained by pressure-controlled micropuncture collection. Micropuncture carried out without pressure control provides highly inaccurate data and is clearly inferior to the other methods. These results are consistent with the possibility that lithium is reabsorbed exclusively by the proximal tubules, 17-20% being reabsorbed by the pars recta.

The Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl S) rat develops hypertension and renal injuries when challenged with a high salt diet and has been considered to be a model of chronic renal failure. Renal injuries appear very early in life compared with the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR). During the course of hypertension, a gradual impairment of autoregulatory control of renal blood flow might expose the glomerular circulation to periods of elevated pressure, resulting in renal injuries in Dahl S rats. Dynamic autoregulatory capacity was assessed in Dahl S and Dahl salt-resistant (Dahl R) rats, SHR, and Sprague-Dawley rats by inducing broad-band fluctuations in the arterial blood pressure and simultaneously measuring renal blood flow. Dynamic autoregulation was estimated by the transfer function using blood pressure as the input and renal blood flow as the output. Renal morphological injuries were evaluated in Dahl S rats and SHR and were scored semiquantitatively. Dynamic autoregulation was efficient and comparable in the low-frequency range (<0.015 Hz) in Dahl R rats, SHR, and Sprague-Dawley rats. The response in Dahl S rats depended strongly on the initiation time of the high salt diet. Autoregulation was preserved during a low salt diet and in rats exposed to a late-onset hypertension of short duration, only partly preserved if the late-onset hypertension was of a longer duration, and abolished in early-onset hypertension. All Dahl S rats on a high salt diet showed severe morphological changes in the kidney. In conclusion, autoregulatory capacity in the kidney of Dahl S rats is gradually impaired when rats are rendered hypertensive with a high salt diet. Renal morphological injuries develop before loss of dynamic autoregulation. Impaired autoregulation appears to be the result, not the cause, of the process that ultimately leads to renal failure in the Dahl S rat.

In order to study the influence of angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on the progression of chronic nephropathy, 70 patients with a median glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 15 (range, 6 to 54) mL/min/1.73 m2 were randomized in an open study to basic treatment with enalapril or conventional antihypertensive treatment. The patients were followed for at least 2 years or until they needed dialysis. The groups were comparable with respect to age and sex distribution, etiology of renal diseases, initial levels of renal function and arterial blood pressure (BP), and protein intake. The therapeutic goal was a BP of 120 to 140/80 to 90 mm Hg. The GFR, estimated by the plasma clearance of 51Cr-EDTA, was measured every third month, and the individual rate of progression was calculated as the slope of the GFR v time plot. In the enalapril group, the median decline in GFR was -0.20 (range, +0.18 to -7.11) mL/min/1.73 m2/month and in the control group it was -0.31 (+0.01 to -1.97) mL/min/1.73 m2/month (P less than .05). There was no significant difference in blood pressure or plasma lipid levels between the groups. Thus, the progression of moderate to severe chronic nephropathy was slower on a basic treatment with enalapril as compared to conventional antihypertensive therapy.

We describe in gas anesthetized rats an oscillating intratubular pressure response, probably of vascular origin, sensitive to small physiological changes in fluid delivery to the distal tubule. The oscillation apparently indicates that an adjustment of vascular resistance is in operation, but at present it reveals neither the effector site (afferent and/or efferent arteriole) nor the effector mechanism (vasoconstriction and/or dilatation). The renin-angiotensin system seems to be involved in this phenomenon.