Effects of indomethacin in dogs with acute and chronic renovascular hypertension.

This study examines the role that prostaglandins play in both the developmental and chronic phases of renovascular hypertension. Two 5-mg/kg doses of indomethacin were given to conscious dogs with renal denervation and receiving propranolol during the acute and chronic phases of one-kidney (1-KHT) and the acute phase of two-kidney (2-KHT) renovascular hypertension. Indomethacin produced striking reductions in plasma renin activity from the high level observed during the acute phase of both 1-KHT and 2-KHT. However, plasma renin activity failed to return to normal, and the hypertensive level of pressure decreased only slightly. In the chronic 1-KHT dogs, indomethacin did not lower plasma renin activity or mean arterial blood pressure unless plasma renin activity was elevated above the normal level. Also, indomethacin failed to alter renal function during the acute phase of 1-KHT but effective renal plasma flow fell during chronic 1-KHT. These results suggest that, in the dog, renal prostaglandins are involved in the pathogenesis of both acute 1-KHT and 2-KHT, whereas the role of renal prostaglandins in the regulation of arterial pressure appears to be negligible in chronic 1-KHT except during superimposed sodium depletion or severe hypertension. The data indicate that prostaglandins are involved in renovascular hypertension in the dog only under conditions where plasma renin activity is elevated. It is suggested that the release of renin after renal artery constriction is mediated by the vascular receptor that is at least partially independent of renal prostaglandin synthesis.