The effects of stimulating carotid chemoreceptors on renal haemodynamics and function in dogs

1. Dogs were anaesthetized with chloralose and artificially ventilated. The carotid chemoreceptors were stimulated by changing the perfusion of vascularly isolated carotid sinus regions from arterial to venous blood. The mean carotid sinus pressure and the mean arterial blood pressure were held constant at 124 +/- 3 and 122 +/- 3 mmHg, respectively. Both vagosympathetic trunks were sectioned in the neck and propranolol (17 micrograms kg-1 min-1 I.V.) and gallamine triethiodide (0.2-2.0 mg kg-1 30 min-1 I.V.) were infused. Renal blood flow was measured by an electromagnetic flow probe, glomerular filtration rate by creatinine clearance, sodium excretion by flame photometry and solute excretion by osmometry. 2. In sixteen tests in thirteen dogs perfusion of the carotid sinus regions with venous blood resulted in significant decreases in renal blood flow from 271 +/- 24 to 198 +/- 21 ml min-1 100 g-1 renal mass; glomerular filtration rate from 41.0 +/- 4.8 to 22.1 +/- 3.1 ml min-1 100 g-1; filtration fraction from 0.25 +/- 0.02 to 0.19 +/- 0.02; urine flow from 0.48 +/- 1.0 to 0.21 +/- 0.03 ml min-1 100 g-1; sodium excretion from 18.1 +/- 4.1 to 12.9 +/- 4.2 mumol min-1 100 g-1; and osmolar excretion 327 +/- 42 to 171 +/- 26 mu osmol min-1 100 g-1. The right atrial pressure did not change significantly from 4.6 +/- 1.2 cmH2O. 3. In seven dogs, tying renal sympathetic nerves abolished all the responses except that of sodium excretion which was now reversed; sodium excretion increased from 68 +/- 19 to 116 +/- 38 mumol min-1 100 g-1 without significant change in right atrial pressure from 7.4 +/- 1.9 cmH2O. Crushing the carotid bodies, however, abolished all the responses. 4. The results show that carotid chemoreceptor stimulation can cause significant reflex effects on renal haemodynamics and function which are mediated via renal sympathetic nerves. They also show that the chemoreceptor stimulation can cause natriuresis in the absence of haemodynamic changes, in the denervated kidney, presumably via a humoral factor.