Renal Response to Changes in Nitrogen Metabolism in Sheep

1958 ◽  
Vol 193 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen ◽  
Humio Osaki

The camel has been found to be able to regulate the urea excretion on the renal tubular level. The same was demonstrated in sheep. Lactating or growing sheep, when placed on a low protein diet, decreased the fraction of filtered urea appearing in the urine to very low values. The low urea excretion was characterized by a urea U/P ratio not exceeding 5–7 even at low urine flows. The degree to which urea is concentrated in the urine over the plasma at low urine flows was found to be a good indicator of the regulatory state of the kidney. Changes in this regulatory state could be brought about within approximately one hour. A sudden lowering of the maximum urea U/P was found after a deficient protein-free diet was supplemented with grain. Conversely, a urea infusion raised the maximum urea U/P ratio abruptly in a sheep maintained on a low protein intake. The effect of administration of hydrocortisone or ACTH was studied to determine if these hormones could have a direct effect upon the regulatory state of the kidney. No acute effect was observed. Prolonged administration had in some instances a renal effect. The effect, however, was probably secondary to changes in nitrogen metabolism. The main results are that the excretion of urea is regulated by the renal tubule, that changes in the regulation can take place rapidly following a suitable stimulus, and that these changes are independent of plasma urea level.

1971 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 429 ◽  
Author(s):  
KH McIntyre

Urea was infused into sheep both intravenously and intraruminally, and at several increasing rates. The infusions were continuous for at least 6 days for each quantity of urea infused. Three predominantly roughage rations were used. Two of these had the same roughage constituents; both had relatively low protein contents, but one contained starch. The amount of urea nitrogen retained in the body from the urea infused was greatest on the ration containing starch, when the nitrogen balance improved by as much as 4.3 g/day. The concentration of ammonia in the rumen increased linearly with the amount of urea infused by either route of administration, but was much higher in the sheep infused intraruminally. Plasma urea nitrogen concentrations increased linearly with each quantity of urea infused until they reached about 30 mg/100 ml. They increased above this concentration only in the sheep fed on the low protein roughage ration without starch. The results suggest that a renal mechanism for urea excretion may control the plasma urea nitrogen concentration at about 30 mg/100 ml under certain conditions.


1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 573-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. L. Huber

Administration of 2 mg of diethylstilbestrol (DES) daily to lambs reduced total urinary nitrogen excretion, urea excretion, plasma urea concentrations, and liver arginase activity. The percent of filtered urea reabsorbed was greater in untreated lambs, thus suggesting that the increased nitrogen conservation observed following DES administration to ruminants is not the result of a direct effect of DES on tubular reabsorption of urea but on nitrogen metabolism.


1970 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 323 ◽  
Author(s):  
RF Thornton

Cattle and sheep were offered the same diet in amounts according to the ratio of their metabolic body size, and were intravenously infused with urea in amounts according to the same ratio. An apparent limit to the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen occurred at lower plasma urea and rumen ammonia concentrations in cattle than in sheep. Associated with ingestion of feed there was a decline in the concentrations of both rumen ammonia and plasma urea, and in urinary urea excretion. It is suggested that (a) the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen and the urinary excretion of urea are reciprocally related, and (b) the transfer of urea from the blood to the rumen and the consequent reduction in plasma urea concentration associated with feed ingestion may account for the decline in urinary urea excretion after ingestion of feed, rather than changes in the urine flow rate and in renal tubular mechanisms.


1979 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 381-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maija Valtonen

The effects of reducing dietary nitrogen and increasing sodium chloride intake on renal function were studied in reindeer in order so elucidate the extent of urea conservation and solute excretion by the reindeer kidney. The fall in plasma urea concentration and urea excretion on the low protein diet was accompanied by a significant reduction in the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and urine osmolality. The fraction of filtered urea reabsorbed increased. However, the contribution of the fall of the GFR to restriction of urinary losses of urea was far more significant than the increase in fractional urea reabsorption. The increase in sodium chloride intake reflected in icreased urinary sodium excretion, inducing a rise in urine osmolality on the low protein diet. Increased excretion of sodium was accompanied by decreased urea excretion. This interdependence of urea and sodium in urine excretion was particularly pronounced during the mating season in the autumn, when prominent retention of electrolytes and water was observed. On low protein diet, when reindeer were exposed to cold, the energy intake proved insufficient. The use of body protein as energy source resulted in increased plasma urea values. The fractional reabsorption of urea decreased, but the GFR stayed low. The GFR seems to be unaffected by plasma urea concentrations but is in some way regulated by the intake of dietary protein. Also on lichen diet the intake was not sufficient to satisfy the energy requirements and the plasma urea concentrations increased. The urea excretion was still low due to a decreased GFR. The high moisture content of lichen caused an increase in the urine water excretion, but no increase occured in the solute excretion. The rumen ammonia concentrations correlated significantly with the plasma urea concentrations, showing that urea is readily returned to the rumen in reindeer. The restriction of urea excretion on low protein intake contributes to the nitrogen economy and in reindeer it is brought about by a marked decrease in the GFR together with an increase in the urea reabsorption.


1958 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen ◽  
Humio Osaki ◽  
H. V. Murdaugh ◽  
Roberta O'Dell

In order to elucidate the renal mechanism for the regulation of urea excretion the urea clearance and the GFR were studied in sheep during normal and low protein intake in a range of urine flows from extreme osmotic diuresis to minimal flows. Differences in the effects of osmotic and water diureses and the effects of abrupt changes in rate of urine flow were also studied. In sheep on normal protein intake the urea/inulin clearance ratio was constant in the range of urine flows corresponding to inulin U/P ratios from 10 to 500. On low protein intake the urea/inulin clearance ratio decreased markedly with decreasing urine flow. At extremely high urine flows no difference was found between the urea/inulin clearance ratios on different diets. Regulation was found to be independent of GFR, plasma urea concentration and osmotic load and must therefore be on the tubular level. Observations during abrupt changes in urine flow showed that the urea clearance is not only abnormally high during increasing flows but also abnormally low during a sudden decrease in flow. The first phenomenon is known as ‘exaltation,’ and we have termed the latter phenomenon ‘abatement.’ The data on exaltation and abatement and on the effects of urine flow are consistent with a previously suggested hypothesis that the excretion of urea in the mammalian kidney is brought about through a regulated active transport of urea, accentuated by a countercurrent multiplier system represented by Henle's loops and vasa recta.


1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 613 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Faichney ◽  
HL Davies

Five groups of Friesian bull calves were given concentrate diets containing 70 % barley in which low (12 %), medium (15 %), and high (19%) protein levels were obtained by varying the amount of peanut meal included. The effects of protein level and of formaldehyde treatment of the complete diet at the low and medium protein levels were studied in terms of liveweight gain, voluntary food consumption, digestibility of the diet, ammonia nitrogen in rumen fluid, and urea and a-amino nitrogen in blood plasma. Observations were begun when the calves reached 70 kg liveweight and continued until they reached 130 kg liveweight. The calves given the low protein diets grew more slowly than those given the higher protein diets. The calves given the high protein diet grew no better than those given the medium protein diets. Formaldehyde treatment was associated with an increase in the rate of liveweight gain of 9% (P = 0.11) at the low protein level but had practically no effect at the medium protein level. The treatment did not adversely affect voluntary food consumption but was associated with decreases in the digestibility of nitrogen and in rumen ammonia levels and small increases in plasma urea levels.


1957 ◽  
Vol 188 (3) ◽  
pp. 477-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodil Schmidt-Nielsen ◽  
Knut Schmidt-Nielsen ◽  
T. R. Houpt ◽  
S. A. Jarnum

The nitrogen excretion was studied in the one-humped camel, Camelus dromedarius. When a growing camel was maintained on a low N intake (dates and hay) the amount of N excreted in the form of urea, NH3 and creatinine decreased to 2–3 gm/day. This decrease was caused by a drop in urea excretion from 13 gm to 0.2–0.5 gm/day. Urea given intravenously during low N intake was not excreted but was retained. (The camel like other ruminants can utilize urea for microbial synthesis of protein.) The renal mechanism for urea excretion was investigated by measuring urea clearance and glomerular filtration rate during a period of 7 months. During normal N intake about 40% of the urea filtered in the glomeruli were excreted in the urine while during low N intake only 1–2% were excreted. The variations in urea clearance were independent of the plasma urea concentration and of glomerular filtration rate, but were related to N intake and rate of growth. No evidence of active tubular reabsorption of urea was found since the urine urea concentration at all times remained higher than the simultaneous plasma urea concentration. The findings are not in agreement with the current concept for the mechanism of urea excretion in mammals. It is concluded that the renal tubules must either vary their permeability to urea in a highly selective manner or secrete urea actively.


1993 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Obara ◽  
D. W. Dellow

SUMMARYThe effect of rumen fermentation on the relationship between urea and glucose kinetics was examined in sheep fed chopped lucerne hay with intraruminal infusions of water, urea, sucrose, or urea plus sucrose at Palmerston North, New Zealand in 1986. Sheep were fed hourly and infused intraruminally with water (1200 m1/day), or a similar volume containing either urea alone (13·7g/day), sucrose alone (178·2 g/day) or urea (14·6 g/day) plus sucrose (175·0 g/day). The added sucrose resulted in a lower rumen ammonia concentration (P< 0·05), lower plasma urea concentration (P< 0·05) and reduced urinary urea excretion (P< 0·05). Urea recycled to the gut tended to increase with the sucrose, urea or sucrose plus urea treatments compared with the water treatment. The fermentation of sucrose in the rumen resulted in decreases in ruminal pH (P< 0·05) and in the ratio of acetate to propionate (A:P) (P< 0·05). The infusion of sucrose also increased the concentration of propionate in rumen fluid (P< 0·05), tended to increase the plasma glucose level and increased plasma glucose irreversible loss (P< 0·05). The infusion of urea resulted in an increase in the plasma urea level (P< 0·05), urea pool size (P< 0·05) and urea irreversible loss (P< 0·01). However, urea infusion did not affect glucose metabolism or volatile fatty acid (VFA) fermentation. The effects of sucrose infusion on glucose and urea kinetics were broadly similar when given alone or with urea, apart from changes in the urea degradation rate. It was concluded that the additional fermentative activity resulting from sucrose increased propionate production which, in turn, was available for glucose production, thus ‘sparing’ amino acids for tissue protein utilization and reducing urea excretion.


1972 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 859 ◽  
Author(s):  
GJ Faichney

The effect of formaldehyde treatment of peanut meal on the digestion of barley-peanut meal diets was studied in fistulated crossbred sheep at two peanut meal and therefore dietary protein levels. There were no differences either between protein levels or due to treatment in the overall digestion of organic matter, but more of this digestion took place in the stomach when the low protein diets were given. Dietary starch was completely digested. There was no effect of protein level or of formaldehyde treatment on the partition of starch digestion between the stomach and the intestines. About 10% of the dietary nitrogen disappeared from the stomach when the high protein diet containing untreated peanut meal was given; treatment resulted in a small net gain of nitrogen in the stomach. There was a net gain of nitrogen in the stomach when the low protein diets were given, the gain tending to be greater when the peanut meal was treated. When the meal was treated, there was a small but not significant increase (c. 2%) for the low protein diet and a substantial increase (c. 31 %) for the high protein diet in the amount of crude protein digested in the intestines per unit of digestible organic matter intake. Changes observed in the composition and flow of digesta and in plasma urea and cc-amino nitrogen levels are discussed in relation to the digestion of organic matter and protein.


2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Joles ◽  
D. V. Sculley ◽  
S. C. Langley-Evans

Nephrogenesis in the rat starts mid-gestation and continues into lactation. Maternal low protein (LP) intake leads to renal injury in rats and associates with mild renal injury in humans. We hypothesized that LP during early nephrogenesis or throughout gestation would induce more renal injury in rat offspring than when LP was only present before nephrogenesis. Pregnant rats were fed LP diet (9% casein) at early gestation (LPE, day 0–7), mid (LPM, day 8–14), late (LPL, day 15–22) or throughout gestation (LPA, day 0–22) and compared to controls on 18% casein diet. Offspring were studied at 18 months. Renal injury was assessed by 24 h proteinuria, plasma urea, antioxidant enzyme activities, and apoptosis (Bax/Bcl2). Proteinuria was higher in LPM males and LPE and LPM females. In LPM males glutathione peroxidase activity was lower, while in LPE males catalase activity was higher. Antioxidants were not much affected in females. Bax expression was higher in LPM males and females, while Bcl2 expression was higher in LPA females. Thus even before nephrogenesis (day 0–7), LP impacted on renal integrity in adult life, while LP during a later phase (day 15–22) or throughout gestation had less effect. In summary, for aging rat kidney LP poses the greatest threat when restricted to early nephrogenesis.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document