Beneficial effect of propranolol in a histologically appropriate model of postischemic acute renal failure.

Acute renal failure caused in the rabbit by clamping one renal pedicle for 1 hour and removing the opposite kidney produced a histologic picture very similar to that observed in "hypotensive" acute renal failure in man. Intravenous infusion of propranolol, a drug which prevents renin release, at 1 mg/kg for 70 minutes beginning at time of pedicle clamping resulted in significantly lower serum creatinine in this model (2.8 +/- 0.2 mg% at 48 hours with propranolol versus 5.2 +/- 0.8 mg% without). Renin stimulation by dehydration or feeding a low-salt diet enhanced the difference between treated and untreated groups (2.6 +/- 0.4 mg% with propranolol versus 6.2 +/- 1.8 mg% without, after dehydration; 3.5 +/- 1.0 mg% with propranolol versus 7.6 +/- 1.4 mg% without, after low-salt diet).Suppression of renin production by saline feeding eliminated propranolol's beneficial effect (5.6 +/- 0.9 mg% with propranolol versus 4.0 +/- 0.6 mg% without). In rabbits with a normal food and water intake, renal denervation using phenol also eliminated propranolol's effect (creatinine 8.6 +/- 1.4 mg% with propranolol versus 8.6 +/- 1.8 mg% without). In rabbits with intact kidneys, flow probe recording of renal blood flow showed a significantly higher blood flow immediately after unclamping in the propranolol-treated animals, and renal angiograms showed less vasoconstriction in this group after unclamping. In this model of acute renal failure, renal vasoconstriction plays an important role following the initial ischemic insult. Propranolol lessens the severity of this vasoconstriction and the resulting acute renal failure. Its probable action is interference with neurogenically stimulated renin release.

The renal medulla and mechanisms of hypertension in the spontaneously hypertensive rat.

A significant number of offspring from brother-sister matings of NIH-Okamoto-Aoki spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) were found to be normotensive at 20 weeks of age. Over 20% of the animals that were hypertensive at this age had mild-to-moderate unilateral hydronephrosis at the time of sacrifice. In over 90% of the rats that did not develop hypertension spontaneously, ligation of one ureter raised blood pressure above 150 mm Hg within 2 weeks. In those rats made hypertensive by obstructing one ureter and in those that developed hypertension with accompanying naturally occurring hydronephrosis, subcutaneous implants of fragmented renal medulla from unrelated normal rats decreased blood pressure to normotensive levels. In contrast, medullary implants had no significant effect in rats developing hypertension spontaneously without hydronephrosis. Renal inner medullary plasma flow was low in the obstructed kidneys of hydronephrotic hypertensive SHRs but was elevated in the kidneys of nonhydronephrotic hypertensive SHRs. The hypertension in hydronephrotic SHRs appears to be related to an impairment of the antihypertensive function of the renal medulla. Such an impairment of medullary antihypertensive function does not appear to play a significant role in the hypertension in SHRs without hydronephrosis.