Renal actions of endothelin during mannitol and saline expansion

We evaluated the effects of volume expansion with saline (0.5 ml kg-1 min-1, n = 13) and with 10% mannitol in saline (0.5 ml kg-1 min-1, n = 13) on the cardiorenal actions of endothelin-1 (ET) in rats anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. We also evaluated to what extent the calcium channel antagonist, verapamil (0.02 mg kg-1 min-1), altered the cardiorenal actions of endothelin in volume-expanded rats (n = 10 with saline and n = 10 with mannitol). In five rats from each group, renal blood flow was measured with an electromagnetic flow probe. Sixty minutes after surgery, control clearances were collected, ET (110 ng kg-1 min-1) was then infused for 30 min, and recovery clearances were collected for 60 min. ET caused a similar increase in mean arterial blood pressure and decrease in renal blood flow and the glomerular filtration rate in the saline and mannitol groups. Verapamil significantly attenuated but did not abolish the ET-induced increase in mean arterial blood pressure in both saline- and mannitol-treated rats. By contrast, the calcium channel antagonist had no effect on the ET-induced decrease in either the glomerular filtration rate or renal blood flow in saline-treated rats, but significantly attenuated these responses to ET in mannitol-expanded animals. These data demonstrate that (i) the systemic and renal responses to ET are not affected by expansion with saline or mannitol and (ii) the renal vasoconstriction prompted by endothelin is not affected by verapamil in saline-expanded rats, but is attenuated by the Ca2+ channel antagonist during expansion with mannitol. These data suggest that during volume expansion with mannitol, but not with saline, the ET-induced renal vasoconstriction occurs primarily at intrarenal resistance sites that are dependent upon extracellular Ca2+.