Renal blood flow alterations after temporary ischemia. An experimental model in the rabbit.

In an effort to investigate the efficiency of various pharmacological agents in protecting the kidney against normothermic ischemia, an animal model was developed and the post-ischemic hemodynamics in the renal cortex of rabbit kidneys were studied. Renal cortical blood flow was evaluated 5-30 min after 60 min of normothermic ischemia of the left kidney using 141Ce-, 51Cr-, and 85Sr-labelled microspheres. Control groups were subjected to sham operation. The right kidneys served as individual controls. Ischemic kidneys showed a significant weight increase independent of reperfusion. Furthermore, a transient highly significant increase of cortical blood flow was found with an absolute maximum about 10 min after termination of ischemia. This increase in cortical blood flow was paralleled by a highly significant decrease of vascular resistance.