Nephron filtration rate and proximal tubular fluid reabsorption in the Akita mouse model of type I diabetes mellitus

An increase of glomerular filtration rate (hyperfiltration) is an early functional change associated with type I or type II diabetes mellitus in patients and animal models. The causes underlying glomerular hyperfiltration are not entirely clear. There is evidence from studies in the streptozotocin model of diabetes in rats that an increase of proximal tubular reabsorption results in the withdrawal of a vasoconstrictor input exerted by the tubuloglomerular feedback (TGF) mechanism. In the present study, we have used micropuncture to assess single nephron function in wild type (WT) mice and in two strains of type I diabetic Ins2+/- mice in either a C57Bl/6 (Akita) or an A1AR-/- background (Akita/A1AR-/-) in which TGF is non-functional. Kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of anesthetized mice was increased by 25% in Akita mice and by 52% in Akita/A1AR-/-, but did not differ between genotypes when corrected for kidney weight. Single nephron GFR (SNGFR) measured by end-proximal fluid collections averaged 11.8 ± 1 nl/min (n=17), 13.05 ± 1.1 nl/min (n=23; p=0.27), and 15.4 ± 0.84 nl/min (n=26; p=0.009 compared to WT; p=0.09 compared to Akita) in WT, Akita, and Akita/A1AR-/- mice respectively. Proximal tubular fluid reabsorption was not different between WT and diabetic mice and correlated with SNGFR in all genotypes. We conclude that glomerular hyperfiltration is a primary event in the Akita model of type I diabetes, perhaps driven by an increased filtering surface area, and that it is ameliorated by TGF to the extent that this regulatory system is functional.

Flash photolysis of caged nitric oxide inhibits proximal tubular fluid reabsorption in free-flow nephron

A nonobstructing optical method was developed to measure proximal tubular fluid reabsorption in rat nephron at 0.25 Hz. The effects of uncaging luminal nitric oxide (NO) on proximal tubular reabsorption were investigated with this method. Proximal fluid reabsorption rate was calculated as the difference of tubular flow measured simultaneously at two locations (0.8–1.8 mm apart) along a convoluted proximal tubule. Tubular flow was estimated on the basis of the propagating velocity of fluorescent dextran pulses in the lumen. Changes in local tubular flow induced by intratubular perfusion were detected simultaneously along the proximal tubule, indicating that local tubular flow can be monitored in multiple sites along a tubule. The estimated tubular reabsorption rate was 5.52 ± 0.38 nl·min−1·mm−1 ( n = 20). Flash photolysis of luminal caged NO (potassium nitrosylpentachlororuthenate) was induced with a 30-Hz UV nitrogen-pulsed laser. Release of NO from caged NO into the proximal tubule was confirmed by monitoring intracellular NO concentration using a cell-permeant NO-sensitive fluorescent dye (DAF-FM). Emission of DAF-FM was proportional to the number of laser pulses used for uncaging. Photolysis of luminal caged NO induced a dose-dependent inhibition of proximal tubular reabsorption without activating tubuloglomerular feedback, whereas uncaging of intracellular cGMP in the proximal tubule decreased tubular flow. Coupling of this novel method to measure reabsorption with photolysis of caged signaling molecules provides a new paradigm to study tubular reabsorption with ambient tubular flow.

Acute arterial hypertension inhibits proximal tubular fluid reabsorption in normotensive rat but not in SHR

The effect of acute arterial hypertension on proximal tubular fluid reabsorption was investigated in Sprague-Dawley rats and spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) by measuring proximal tubular flow with a nonobstructive optical method. Under control conditions, spontaneous tubular flow was oscillating at 0.02-0.03 Hz in Sprague-Dawley rats. Acute hypertension induced an immediate increase of mean tubular flow (50% increase after 20 min of hypertension) and augmentation of oscillatory amplitude. Acute hypertension did not alter single-nephron blood flow as measured by laser-Doppler velocimetry ( n = 12), suggesting that the increase of tubular flow was due to inhibition of reabsorption but not increase of filtration. By contrast, spontaneous tubular flow was fluctuating aperiodically in SHR. Acute hypertension did not induce a continuous increase of tubular flow or an increase in amplitude of fluctuations ( n = 15). When apical Na+/H+ exchanger activity of proximal tubule was monitored, acute hypertension did not alter the activity in SHR ( n = 8), while similar procedures had been shown to inhibit apical Na+/H+ exchanger activity of proximal tubules by more than 40% in Sprague-Dawley rats. These observations suggest that acute hypertension inhibits proximal tubular fluid reabsorption by inhibiting apical Na+/H+ exchanger activity in Sprague-Dawley rats and that this mechanism is impaired in SHR.

Effect of angiotensin II receptor blockade on proximal tubular fluid reabsorption

The effect of physiological concentrations of angiotensin II on proximal tubular fluid reabsorption remains controversial. To investigate the effect of blockade of intratubular AT1 receptors on tubular reabsorption, losartan (10(-5) M) was administered by microperfusion into an early proximal convolution of halothane-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats. Four parameters that depend on the rate of proximal fluid reabsorption were measured: proximal intratubular pressure (Pprox), early and late proximal flow rate, and early distal NaCl concentration. Pprox decreased by 0.5 +/- 0.1 mmHg, late proximal flow rate decreased by 2.0 +/- 0.8 nl/min, and early distal NaCl concentration decreased by 4.3 +/- 0.8 mM (mean +/- SE). No changes were observed after microperfusion with saline. Because the tubuloglomerular feedback mechanism was operating in the closed-loop mode, the decreased NaCl load to the macula densa will be compensated by an increase in the single-nephron glomerular filtration rate. In agreement with this, the early proximal flow rate, measured proximal to the site of losartan administration, increased by 5.7 +/- 1.3 nl/min. The increase in the rate of proximal reabsorption between the early and late proximal convolutions was estimated to be 7.8 nl/min (approximately 36%). It is concluded that a decrease in local luminal angiotensin II levels and/or AT1 receptor activity under free flow conditions increases the rate of proximal tubular fluid reabsorption.

The effect of sodium taurocholate on proximal tubular reabsorption in the rat kidney

1. Microperfusion of tubules in situ was used to study the direct effect of sodium taurocholate on reabsorption of fluid by the proximal tubule of the rat. 2. Sodium taurocholate (0.1 mmol/l) in the tubular perfusate reduced proximal tubular fluid reabsorption by approximately 30%. 3. Thus, the proximal tubule appears to be a major site at which bile salts cause a natriuresis in the rat, and possibly in obstructive jaundice in man.

Proximal tubular Na, Cl, and HCO3 reabsorption and renal oxygen consumption

The majority of the oxygen consumed by the rat kidney appears to occur in the proximal tubule. Therefore changes in metabolically linked ion transport in this segment of the nephron should result in changes in renal oxygen consumption. To study the role of bicarbonate reabsorption in metabolically linked proximal tubular ion transport a series of micropuncture-clearance-extraction experiments were performed comparing the effects of the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor benzolamide and of hypertonic sodium bicarbonate infusion with control conditions in the rat. End-proximal tubular fluid and chloride reabsorption were measured. From these, the rates of sodium and bicarbonate reabsorption were estimated. Simultaneously with the tubular fluids, extraction collections were obtained for determination of renal oxygen consumption. Both benzolamide and hypertonic bicarbonate reduced proximal tubular fluid reabsorption while concomitantly reducing the transepithelial gradient for chloride. The mean rate of renal oxygen consumption did not differ from the control rate in either experimental group and could be dissociated from the calculated net rates of proximal tubular sodium, chloride, and bicarbonate reabsorption. We interpret these data as evidence that proximal tubular hydrogen ion secretion supporting bicarbonate reabsorption requires at most small amounts of oxidative energy, less than detectable by these techniques. The data, in contrast, support the conclusion that the chloride-bicarbonate transepithelial gradient appears to be an important passive driving force in vivo for proximal tubular fluid reabsorption.