Urinary excretion of renin in the dog: effect of changes in plasma renin.

By using standard clearance and stop flow techniques, studies were carried out in anesthetized dogs to clarify further the mechanism(s) of excretion of renin in urine. The clearance of renin was 0.61 +/- 0.19 ml/min in control experiments and increased significantly to 1.26 +/- 0.38 ml/min after furosemide. The fractional excretion of renin increased from 1.51 +/- 0.45% during control to 3.90 +/- 0.98% after furosemide. The rate of excretion of renin was increased 10-fold during furosemide diuresis associated with a 10-fold increase in plasma renin concentration. Extracellular fluid volume expansion also produced a diuresis but no increase in plasma renin or renin excretion. Hemorrhage produced a 3.5-fold increase in plasma renin concentration and a 200-fold increase in urinary excretion of renin. When renal artery perfusion pressure was reduced to one kidney, the excretion of renin in the urine from that kidney increased, whereas there was no significant change in the excretion from the contralateral kidney. Reduction in renal artery perfusion pressure was associated with a 3-fold increase in the concentration of renin in the renal vein from the experimental kidney but an insignificant 2-fold increase in the arterial plasma renin concentration. Stop-flow studies demonstrated that renin enters the urine with the glomerular filtrate. The decreased concentration of renin in samples from the proximal tubule suggests that renin is being metabolized and/or reabsorbed in this nephron segment. In the distal nephron, there appears to be a site in which renin may be added to the tubular fluid. The results of these studies suggest that renin excretion in the urine is a complicated process. Excretion of renin in the urine is related in part to plasma renin activity but probably more importantly to the rate of production of renin in the kidney.