Renal function in conscious dogs: potential effect of gender on measurement

Conscious dogs were studied to determine the repeatability of and the agreement between conventional inulin clearance (CIn), a urineless or alternative inulin clearance (CInALT), and endogenous creatinine clearance (CCr). Although, the repeatability of the three clearance methods was satisfactory, tests of agreement within gender indicated that CInALT and CCr were not interchangeable numerically with CIn in either males or females. CInALT was significantly higher than CIn in females, and CIn was significantly higher than CCr in both genders. Between genders, there were no significant differences in individual clearance methods, plasma creatinine (PCr), or electrolytes and osmolality. However, urinary osmolality, U/P inulin and U/P creatinine were significantly higher in males. Over the normal range of clearances studied it was not possible to substitute one clearance method for the other regardless of gender. However, the enhanced repeatability of CIn and CInALT in the females suggests that their use in experimental renal studies may be more desirable than males.