Assessment of changes in intrarenal blood flow in conscious rats using laser-Doppler flowmetry

The present study was designed to develop, for the first time, a method that allows long-term repeated measurements of renal cortical blood flow (CBF) and medullary blood flow (MBF) in conscious unanesthetized rats. The use of fiber-optic probes (0.5 mm diam) for the chronic measurement of renal CBF and MBF was evaluated. Basal renal cortical and medullary laser-Doppler flow (LDF) signals and the responses to intravenous bolus injections of angiotensin II (ANG II, 12.5 ng) were determined every other day for 11 days in conscious Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 9). A recovery period of 5-7 days after surgery was required before stable signals were obtained from the implanted probes. Thereafter, the fiber-optic probes gave reproducible laser-Doppler measurements of CBF and MBF for 11 days. The CBF and MBF responses to intravenous bolus injections of ANG II (12.5 ng) were also constant during this period. Chronic implantation of the fiber-optic probes caused minimal tissue damage and did not significantly alter urine concentrating ability or renal function. These findings suggest that LDF technique with chronically implanted optical fibers provides a new tool for the continuous long-term monitoring of regional blood flow in the kidney of conscious rats.