Influence of intratubular pressure on proximal tubular compliance and capillary diameter in the rat kidney.

Tubular compliance is the response of tubular diameter to changes in intratubular pressure [7]. Proximal tubular compliance was determined directly by measurements of tubular diameter and pressure and indirectly using a mathematical model of tubular fluid flow based on measurements of the hydraulic pressure gradients along the tubule under free flow conditions and during an induced pressure reduction at the end of the proximal tubule. The two independent methods yielded similar values for compliance. Proximal tubular compliance was found to depend upon the intratubular pressure: tubular compliance was significantly higher (P less than 0.001) when the intratubular pressure was reduced below normal (1.0 micron cm H2O-1) than when the pressure was increased above the control value (0.4 micron cm H2O-1). Almost identical compliance values were measured in sodium pentobarbital and inactin anaesthetized rats (P greater than 0.8). Intratubularpressure changes resulted in inverse changes in the diameters of the adjacent capillaries, suggesting that the peritubular capillaries are distensible structures.