276I n this issue, Booth et al 1 use a unique combination of functional, anatomical, and biochemical techniques to determine the effectiveness of percutaneous catheter-based radiofrequency renal denervation (RDN) on the destruction of the renal nerves and the long-term pattern of functional reinnervation. Their work is timely given the failure of the only appropriately powered, blinded, sham-controlled RDN clinical study to meet its primary end points, 2,3 and indeed the future of the technique as the panacea for the treatment of resistant hypertension is now being questioned. 4,5 Although issues of procedural competency and suboptimal denervation have been raised, 6 it is now more important than ever for the basic mechanisms underlying RDN to be clarified because specific patient cohorts may still show better responsiveness to therapy, 5 and secondary benefits of RDN in conditions such as diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and heart failure are still under investigation. 4 Whether primary beneficial effects are because of removal of afferent (sensory), efferent (sympathetic), or both components of the renal nerve also remains to be elucidated. One of the more puzzling issues associated with the procedure is the reported time frame of effectiveness, with data from the Symplicity HTN-1 and HTN-2 studies suggesting long-term changes in blood pressure in patients with treatment-resistant hypertension out to 36 months post RDN. 7,8 This is despite strong evidence in small animal models that reinnervation of both the sensory and the sympathetic renal nerves occurs over a relatively rapid time course (2-4 months) with functional capacity.9-11 A limitation in translating work from small animal models to human clinical treatments is the methodology used to achieve denervation, which in the experimental situation typically involves the use of full surgical exposure of the renal nerves, stripping of the renal nerves, and the application of a 10% solution of phenol.9 Such an approach achieves full denervation when compared with catheter-based RDN, which in controlled studies in humans has been shown to achieve a mean efficacy of 47%, as determined by renal noradrenaline spillover methods. 6 Booth et al 1 tackle these questions head on, using a large animal ovine model to examine not only the immediate impact of RDN on both the renal afferent and the efferent nerves but also the degree of reinnervation at 5.5 and 11 months post RDN. In the first instance, they demonstrate that 1 week after RDN using the Symplicity RDN System, renal sympathetic and afferent nerve functions in the sheep are abolished. Critically, they then show in further cohorts of animals that at 11 months post denervation, both levels of renal sympathetic nerve activity, as determined by direct recording, and physiological responses to sympathetic and sensory renal nerve electric stimulation, have returned to normal levels. This was supported by immunohistochemical assessment of the anatomic distribution of afferent and efferent nerves within the ...