Renal nerves do not modulate the renal and endocrine responses to furosemide in conscious lambs

To test the hypothesis that renal sympathetic nerves influence the renal and renin responses to furosemide in conscious newborn animals, experiments were carried out in chronically instrumented lambs with either bilateral renal denervation (denervated, n = 7, age = 13 +/- 3 (SD) days) or intact renal sympathetic nerves (intact, n = 6, age = 13 +/- 4 (SD) days), at least 4 days after surgery. Basal glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urinary flow, and sodium excretion rates were similar in intact and denervated lambs (p > 0.5). A prompt diuretic and natriuretic response and a decrease in GFR occurred after i.v. furosemide (2 mg/kg); these responses were similar in intact and denervated lambs. Basal plasma renin activity (PRA) was not altered by renal denervation. PRA increased 10 min after furosemide (p < 0.001) and remained elevated at 90 min; the response was similar in both groups of lambs. Basal plasma aldosterone levels were elevated in denervated (191 +/- 232 (SD) pg/mL) compared with intact lambs (62 +/- 24 (SD) pg/mL). Plasma aldosterone levels increased after furosemide administration in both groups of animals. These data provide evidence to suggest that renal sympathetic nerves do not appear to modulate the renal and endocrine responses to furosemide, at least at a dose of 2 mg/kg. Our observations also support the premise that early in life, aldosterone counteracts the effects of renal denervation on fluid and electrolyte homeostasis.