Effect of substance P on proximal tubular reabsorption in the rat

Micropuncture and clearance techniques were used simultaneously to determine the effect of substance P on proximal tubular and overall renal function in anesthetized rats. This polypeptide, infused in saline at 50 pg/min into the abdominal aorta above the renal arteries, produced increases in urine flow, 2.7-3.7 mul/min.g kidney wt (P is less than 0.005); urinary sodium concentration, 32-61 meq/liter (P is less than 0.01); and sodium excretion, 89-223 neq/min (P is less than 0.005). Tubular fluid to plasma inulin concentration ratio measured in the last accessible proximal convolution fell from 2.21 to 1.80 (P is less than 0.001), and thus fractional reabsorption was reduced from 54 to 44% (P is less than 0.001). Absolute reabsorption by the proximal convoluted tubule was also reduced 15.5-12.5 nl/min (P is less than 0.025). In a control series of animals, saline alone infused at the same rate did not produce any statistically significant changes in the measured parameters over the same time period. The intrerenal mechanism responsible for the reduction in proximal reabsorption appears to be a tubular one since no consistent or significant changes were observed in kidney or single nephron glomerular filtration rate, renal plasma flow, or intrarenal hydrostatic pressures. No evidence was found to indicate redistribution of filtration rate, or plasma flow, or a reduction in filtration fraction.