The control of glomerular filtration rate and renal blood flow in chronically volume-expanded rats

1. Chronic volume expansion by dietary salt loading practically abolishes tubuloglomerular feed-back (TGF) by means of a humoral inhibitor in tubular fluid. Elimination of the vasoconstrictor influence of feed-back does not, however, increase glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal blood flow (RBF), implying that chronic salt loading induces additional preglomerular vasoconstriction. This being so, the feed-back response which, although absent in free-flowing nephrons, can still be elicited by loop of Henle perfusion with Ringer solution, should be essentially normal, except that nephron GFR at any loop perfusion rate should be lower than in controls. Persistence of RBF, GFR and nephron GFR autoregulation would imply that autoregulation is achieved by a preglomerular resistance control system independent of feed-back. 2. These hypotheses were tested by clearance and micropuncture experiments in rats chronically fed a diet containing 40 g NaCl (kg food)-1. 3. RBF and GFR autoregulation indeed persisted, the former down to 90 mmHg compared with 105 mmHg in controls. In controls, nephron GFR measured distally was autoregulated down to 90 mmHg whereas that measured proximally was autoregulated only above 105 mmHg. In high-salt rats nephron GFR from both sites was autoregulated to 90 mmHg. 4. Loop of Henle perfusion with homologous tubular fluid in high-salt rats confirmed attenuation of feed-back. Loop perfusion with Ringer solution yielded a response comparable to that in controls (maximal reduction of nephron GFR to 57%, compared with 56% in controls). Absolute nephron GFR at any loop perfusion rate was lower in high-salt rats than in controls. 5. These observations confirm the initial hypotheses. Considering feed-back and autoregulation as independent, preglomerular resistance control mechanisms, together with elementary haemodynamic considerations, allows formulation of a renal haemodynamics model whose quantitative predictions regarding characteristics of RBF, GFR and feed-back control are remarkably consistent with the literature.