THE EFFECT OF FEEDING PROTEIN AND UREA ON THE RENAL CONCENTRATING PROCESS 1

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Abstract
Changes in the dietary intake of N, either as protein or urea, over a period of three days, in normal subjects produced well-marked parallel changes in maximum urinary osmolal concentration and in the quanity of solute-free water reabsorbed by the tubules (TmcH2O). Feeding of protein or urea increased the renal response to Pitressin in continuously overhydrated subjects as well as in persons permitted to drink at will. Although urinary osmolal concentration Umax and TmcH2O were increased by chronic administration of urea, they were not increased by acute urea loading. Data suggest that both protein and urea, when given chronically, promote an adaptive response by the renal tubules by which water is conserved more efficiently and renal concentrating ability is augmented.