Renal function in rats after unilateral ligation of renal artery

As we reported earlier unilateral renal artery ligation is followed by a permanent hypertension that is accompanied by marked changes in renal function and in water components. In order to see when these characteristic changes take place we started our observations immediately after renal artery occlusion and finished them at the 3rd week. Rats were put into metabolic cages and several 24-hr urine samples were collected to serve as control values. Then the left renal artery was ligated and in the following 3 weeks observations were continued using also a parallel control group. The experiments ended with the determination of mean arterial pressure. We found that already within 24 hrs following unilateral renal artery ligation there are marked alterations in renal functional parameters that become even more significant with the passing of time. These changes are probably due to a promptly developing hyperfunction and hypertrophy of the contralateral kidney.