A Denervated Nonfiltering Kidney Preparation in the Rat: A Model for Study of Renin Release

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Abstract
To examine the role of the renal vascular receptor in the control of renin secretion in the rat, a denervated, nonfiltering kidney model (DNFK) was developed. The left kidney was subjected to a 2 h period of total renal ischemia followed by ureteral ligation and section. Denervation was accomplished by stripping all visible nerves and painting the renal vessels with 5% phenol. Lissamine green dye was injected i.v. 48 h later and failed to appear in either the cortical or medullary tubules, indicating that glomerular filtration had ceased. Histological study of these kidneys revealed diffuse tubular necrosis with extensive intratubular cast formation. Norepinephrine content of the DNFK was reduced 91% compared to the contralateral normal kidney (P < 0.001). In another group of anesthetized rats with a single DNFK, 15 min of suprarenal aortic constriction (SAC) increased plasma renin activity (PRA) from 3.4 .+-. 0.6 to 11.5 .+-. 1.6 ng AI/ml per h, in a time control series, PRA was unchanged. To exclude the influence of adrenal catecholamines in this response, bilateral adrenalectomy was performed in a separate group of animals with a DNFK. In this series, SAC also markedly increased PRA. The present data indicate that in the rat the medulla densa, the renal nerves, and adrenal catecholamines were not essential for the hyperreninemia induced by a reduction in renal perfusion pressure.