Involvement of dopamine in control of renal blood flow

Previous studies have shown that the renal nerve supply in the dog contains a population of dopaminergic vasodilator neurons. In order to obtain more information on the possible physiological functions of these neurons, we examined two situations in which there is existing evidence for active intrarenal vasodilation--the reflex response to coronary artery occlusion and the autoregulatory response to reduced renal perfusion pressure. We were unable to confirm published reports that coronary artery occlusion evokes renal vasodilation. However, our results support the view that dopaminergic nerves participate in maintenance of renal blood flow and glomerular filtration at perfusion pressures around the lower limit of autoregulation.