The effects of salt restriction on the renal concentrating operation in normal, hydropenic man

Pulmonary vascular changes following air embolism in the dog

The effect of an intravenous injection of air in a dose of 1 ml/kg body weight was determined in 15 healthy mongrel dogs. In 4 control dogs the mean pulmonary artery pressure rose to 2-3 times the resting values at 30 seconds, and carbon monoxide diffusing capacity and pulmonary capillary blood volume decreased by half. In the animals pretreated either with heparin or with methysergide (antiserotonin group) the results were the same as in the control animals. In the vagotomized dogs, the rise in pulmonary artery pressure was not significant, and the decrease in pulmonary capillary blood volume was of lesser magnitude and shorter duration than in the control and the antiserotonin dogs. It is concluded that the intravenous injection of air in supine dogs causes a transient obstruction of small pulmonary arteries. Evidence is presented to implicate a vagal mechanism in both main aspects of the response, namely the pulmonary artery pressure rise, and the partial obstruction of the pulmonary capillary bed. These studies offer additional explanation of the symptoms of respiratory distress observed in rapid decompression.

Accelerated reabsorption in the proximal tubule produced by volume depletion

The renal response to chronic depletion of extracellular volume was examined using the techniques of micropuncture. Depletion of salt and water was produced by administration of furosemide to rats maintained on a sodium-free diet. There was a marked fall in body weight, plasma volume, and glomerular filtration rate. The intrinsic reabsorptive capacity of the proximal tubule, measured by the split-droplet technique, was greatly enhanced. The acceleration of proximal fluid reabsorption could not be accounted for by changes in filtration rate, tubular geometry, or aldosterone secretion. The half-time of droplet reabsorption in the distal tubule was not altered by sodium depletion. An increase in the reabsorption of fluid in the proximal tubule, as demonstrated directly in the present experiments, provides an explanation for a variety of clinical phenomena associated with volume depletion.

Chronic renal homograft function: correlation with histology and lymphocyte antigen matching

Renal function was studied in twenty-nine of thirty-four surviving renal allograft recipients from an initial group of sixty-four patients two years after transplantation. Mean clearances of inulin and PAH were, respectively, greater than and equal to half the donors’ initial predicted clearances. Minimum urine osmolality during water diuresis was greater, and maximum urine osmolality during hydropenia was less than normal, an effect attributable partly to enhanced solute load in a single transplanted kidney.

Patients with compatible donor-recipient lymphocyte antigens demonstrated statistically better function than those with one or more incompatibilities, although there was a definite degree of overlap between the two groups. In contrast, little correlation could be demonstrated between the cumulative histopathology and renal clearances.

Renal function in patients with compatible donors was statistically greater than half the donors’ initial predicted function. Serial increase in renal clearances was documented in one patient with a compatible donor. Serial decreases were demonstrated in two patients with incompatible donors. These findings suggest that hypertrophy of the denervated, transplanted kidney occurs when immune reaction is minimal.