Influence of the renin–angiotensin system in the renal haemodynamic responses to modest renal nerve stimulation in the rat

Abstract

The renal nerves of the left kidney of sodium-replete anaesthetized rats were stimulated for 30-min periods at 2–3 Hz (15 V, 0·2 ms). Renal blood flow was reduced by 22% and glomerular filtration rate by 14% which resulted in a rise in filtration fraction of 12%. Circulating plasma renin activity was increased by 30% during such nerve stimulation. In rats treated for 3–4 weeks with deoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA) and saline (150 mm-NaCl) basal values of arterial blood pressure, renal blood flow, glomerular filtration rate and filtration fraction were not significantly different from those observed in sodium-replete rats. However, plasma renin activity was lower, being approximately one-third of that observed in sodium-replete animals. Stimulation of the renal nerves in rats treated with DOCA and saline resulted in a fall in renal blood flow of 32% and a much larger fall in glomerular filtration rate of 33% which resulted in no change in filtration fraction. Plasma renin activity was not changed by renal nerve stimulation in the animals treated with DOCA and saline. It is suggested that these renal responses provide evidence in the rat for a role of locally generated angiotensin II in regulating glomerular filtration rate during electrical activation of the renal nerves by causing preferential vasoconstriction of the efferent arteriole.