Effect of uninephrectomy on urinary prostaglandin E2, F2 alpha, and 6-ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha excretion in rats.

Male Wistar rats were used to examine whether renal prostaglandins (PG) contribute to functional compensatory changes in the remaining kidney after uninephrectomy. Total urinary excretion of PGE2, PGF2 alpha and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha, a metabolite of PGI2, was measured before and during 11 days after surgery in uninephrectomized (UNX, n = 8) and sham-operated control (S, n = 9) rats. Urine volume was increased for the UNX rats on days 2-8 after surgery, but not thereafter, and urine osmolality for UNX was decreased on post-surgery days 1-9; total urinary sodium excretion did not differ between the two groups. Urinary PGE2 excretion was decreased in the UNX rats to 50% of S rat values, except on post-surgery days 2 and 3, when values for the two groups were not significantly different. Urinary PGF2 alpha excretion by the UNX rats was reduced to 50% of S rat values throughout the post-surgery period. In contrast, the urinary excretion of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha by the UNX rats did not differ significantly from that by the S rats, except on a single day. Chronic renal functional adaptation to renal mass reduction does not depend on increased renal prostaglandin systems activity; however, increased intrarenal PGE2 activity in the remaining kidney might be a factor in compensatory adjustments during the first days after surgery.