The effect of pressor doses of Angiotensin II on autoregulation and intrarenal distribution of glomerular filtration rate in the rat.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of pressor doses of exogenous Angiotensin II (AII) on autoregulation and intrarenal distribution of single nephron glomerular filtration rate (SNGFR) in anesthetized, normotensive rats. SNGFR at all cortical levels of the left kidney was measured with a modified Hanssen technique at three renal arterial pressures (RAP): Spontaneous, 100 +/- 1 mmHg and 70 +/- 1 mmHg. In control rats, both outer cortical (OC) and inner cortical (IC) nephrons showed complete autoregulation of SNGFR when RAP was reduced to 100 +/- 1 mmHg. Further reduction to 70 +/- 1 mmHg resulted in different responses among the cortical layers, accompanying a decrease in SNGFR. The SNGFRIC/SNGFROC ratio increased from 1.36 +/- 0.053 to 1.52 +/- 0.047 and a fractional redistribution of glomerular filtration rate towards IC nephrons was seen. When the kidney was submitted to a RAP of 70 +/- 1 mmHg, there was a concomitant increase in central arterial pressure (CAP) from 120 +/- 4.3 to 134 +/- 3.2 mmHg. A continuous i.v. infusion of AII (0.5 microgram . min-1 . kg-1 BW) increased mean arterial pressure from 123 +/- 1.4 to 142 +/- 3.8 mmHg, an effect corresponding to that on peripheral vascular resistance during reduction of RAP to 70 +/- 1 mmHg in control rats. This dose reduced SNGFR at all cortical levels, but did not per se lead to redistribution of SNGFR. A reduction in RAP to 100 +/- 1 mmHg during AII administration resulted in impaired autoregulation of SNGFR in both OC and IC nephrons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)