Nonlinear analysis of renal autoregulation under broadband forcing conditions

Linear analysis of renal blood flow fluctuations, induced experimentally in rats by broad-band (pseudorandom) arterial blood pressure forcing at various power levels, has been unable to explain fully the dynamics of renal autoregulation at low frequencies. This observation has suggested the possibility of nonlinear mechanisms subserving renal autoregulation at frequencies below 0.2 Hz. This paper presents results of 3rd-order Volterra-Wiener analysis that appear to explain adequately the nonlinearities in the pressure-flow relation below 0.2 Hz in rats. The contribution of the 3rd-order kernel in describing the dynamic pressure-flow relation is found to be important. Furthermore, the dependence of 1st-order kernel waveforms on the power level of broadband pressure forcing indicates the presence of nonlinear feedback (of sigmoid type) based on previously reported analysis of a class of nonlinear feedback systems.