Urinary and renal tissue kallikrein in the streptozocin-diabetic rat

The renal kallikrein-kinin system is thought to participate in blood pressure regulation and displays abnormalities in human hypertension, as well as in many animal models of hypertension. Urinary excretion and tissue levels of renal kallikrein were measured in streptozocin (STZ)-diabetic rats in relation to blood pressure, glycemia, and insulin treatment. In study 1, STZ-diabetic rats with marked hyperglycemia showed reduced kallikrein-like esterase excretion, compared with control rats, when first measured after 7 days of diabetes (9.9 +/- 2.5 versus 17.5 +/- 2.4 EU/24 h, P less than 0.05). This difference increased with time and, after 210 days, urinary esterase excretion in diabetic and control rats was 6.7 +/- 2.1 and 39.0 +/- 6.0 EU/24 h, respectively (P less than 0.001). Urine kallikrein, measured by radioimmunoassay, was similarly reduced in diabetic rats (40.4 +/- 8.0 versus 88.0 +/- 6.5 micrograms/24 h, at 30 days, P less than 0.001). At 120 days, systolic blood pressures were elevated in diabetic rats (P less than 0.05), and at 180 days over 60% of the diabetic rats had pressures above the highest pressures of control rats. In study 2, STZ-diabetic rats were treated with insulin for 2 wk (2 U NPH at 0800 h, or 2 U NPH at 0800 and 1600 h). In the single-dose group, with hyperglycemia similar to that of diabetic rats in study 1, kallikrein excretion was reduced as early as day 2, compared with nondiabetic rats (56.0 +/- 6.1 versus 109 +/- 9.4 micrograms/24 h, respectively, P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)