Renal function in hypertensive cardiovascular disease of rat

¹ Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, Texas

Rats were rendered hypertensive by subjecting them at the time of weaning for a period of several weeks to a choline-free or potassium-free diet. Urea clearance, renal blood flow and tubular mass of the chronically hypertensive animals remained normal. Only the glomerular filtrate rate was significantly reduced in the hypertensive animals reflecting the changes in the glomerular membrane induced by the experimental procedure. However, there was no correlation between the severity of the blood pressure and the observed morphological or functional disturbance in the glomerulus. It is concluded that the experimentally induced hypertension, like its human counterpart (essential hypertension) is not a consequence of renal ischemia nor is it dependent upon the concomitant presence of renal excretory insufficiency.