Insulin-like growth factor 1 and renal growth following ureteral obstruction in the rat

The role of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in renal growth of obstructed and contralateral kidneys was investigated for 10 days following unilateral ureteric obstruction in male Wistar rats. The weight of the obstructed kidney increased rapidly, rising from 671 +/- 10 to 1,378 +/- 42 mg on day 10, an increase of 105%. IGF-1 content of the obstructed kidney was significantly less than in control kidneys from day 2 onwards, reaching a nadir of 70 ng/mg, a fall of 64%. The protein concentration, expressed as milligrams per gram kidney weight, also fell rapidly from 141 +/- 11 to 88 +/- 3 mg/g on day 6. The weight of the contralateral kidney increased by 32%, from 671 +/- 10 to 887 +/- 48 mg on day 10. The IGF-1 content of this kidney was increased by 48% from baseline on day 1 (268 +/- 23 vs. 191 +/- 13 ng/g) and remained increased compared to sham-operated animals on days 6 and 8. The protein content, expressed as milligrams per gram kidney weight, remained constant throughout the study. We conclude that in the acutely obstructed left kidney increasing kidney weight is associated with falling concentration of IGF-1 and protein and may be due to oedematous and reactive change. Growth of the contralateral kidney is preceded by a rise in the concentration of IGF-1 and may represent true renal compensatory growth.