Effect of protein on glomerular filtration rate and prostanoid synthesis in normal and uremic rats

Normal and uremic conscious rats that had been maintained on a low-protein diet were given oral protein or carbohydrate loads, and clearance studies were performed. Both the normal and uremic animals demonstrated a approximately 30% increase in glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in response to the protein bolus, but no significant increase in GFR was seen following the carbohydrate bolus. Similar studies were performed in uremic rats on a standard protein diet. The changes in GFR that were seen after an albumin bolus were similar but not as pronounced as those noted in the animals on the low-protein diet. Pretreatment with either aspirin or meclofenamate, cyclooxygenase inhibitors, completely blocked the protein-induced rise in GFR. The rats of glomerular production of prostaglandin (PG) E2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha (a stable metabolite of prostacyclin, PGI2) were determined by radioimmunoassay in a similar group of normal rats. The synthetic rates of PGE2 and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha following the protein bolus were 40 and 52% greater, respectively, than those observed following the carbohydrate load (P less than 0.005). Aspirin decreased glomerular prostanoid production in protein-treated animals by greater than 60%. Thus it appears that in the setting of protein restriction, the percent increase in GFR following a protein load is similar in both the normal and uremic rats, the increase in GFR in uremic rats is attenuated when animals were allowed to ingest a normal protein diet prior to study, and the increase in GFR seen in response to a protein load may be related to an increase in the synthesis of one or more vasodilatory glomerular prostanoids.