Developmental Change and Hormonal Control of β-Glucosidase Activity in Rat Kidney

Abstract

β-Glucosidase activity in rat kidney increased progressively with age, from 4 weeks after birth up to 52 weeks. A marked sexual difference in enzyme activity was found in the adult kidney. The activity in adult males was 1.4—2.1 times higher than in adult females. Castration of males decreased the β-glucosidase activity to an about normal female level and the decreased activity returned to a normal male level following injection of testosterone. Ovariectomy did not affect enzyme activity. Adrenalectomy decreased enzyme activity to about 50% of the normal level in both males and females and the decreased activity returned to a normal level following injection of hydrocortisone.

Evaluation of Renal Function in Neonatal Rats

“…collected and analyzed using noninvasive techniques. Subsequent research reports will evaluate the sensitivity of the techniques de scribed in this paper for the detection of perinatally induced renal dysfunction.The development of the kidney in the neonatal rat has been described from the viewpoint of the glomerulus [3,20], the renal tubules [4,21], cytology [5], and biochemis try [10,13, 33]. Studies on the development of renal functional capabilities in the neona tal rat began with the water loading experi ments of Heller [14], McCance and Wilkin son [22], and Falk [9], and were quickly fol lowed by investigations into the actions of various hormones [1,7.…”