Effects of sodium loading, desoxycorticosterone acetate, and corticosterone on urinary kallikrein excretion

In male Sprague-Dawley rats, changes in kallikrein activity in urine were produced by high sodium intake (1% saline as drinking fluid for 14 days), and administration of desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA, 15 mg/kg s.c. for 5 days), and of corticosterone (2 x 0.2 or 2 x 20 mg/kg s.c. daily for 5 days). Salt loading caused a decrease in urinary kallikrein excretion (p less than 0.005), while DOCA produced an increase (p less than 0.001). While corticosterone, administered in the low dose, had no effect on urinary kallikrein excretion, the high dose, given for 5 days, diminished kallikrein excretion to about half the basal value (p less than 0.001). Simultaneously, the excretion of aldosterone decreased to about one third the amount measured in the corresponding control rats.