Site-specific regulation of organic osmolytes along the rat nephron

The regulation of organic osmolytes was investigated in acute furosemide and chronic lithium diuresis along the nephron and in urinary bladder of rats. Sorbitol, myo-inositol, glycerophosphorylcholine, and betaine were measured enzymatically or by high performance liquid chromatography in homogenates and bioluminometrically in microdissected tubules. In untreated rats, all osmolytes except myo-inositol increased along the corticopapillary axis. An efflux of all osmolytes (-50%) was observed in homogenates of outer and inner medulla after acute furosemide diuresis (15 min, urinary osmolality = 329 mosmol/kgH2O) and for both polyols in microdissected tubules (30 min). In urinary bladder, only low concentrations of myo-inositol were found not to be affected by furosemide treatment. Chronic lithium treatment (7 days; urinary osmolality = 385 mosmol/kgH2O) decreased inner medullary but not outer medullary osmolyte concentrations. The results confirm a site-specific organic osmolyte pattern along the rat nephron, which is rapidly changed in a segment-specific way by different mechanisms of diuresis. The bladder epithelium does not accumulate organic osmolytes because no "osmotic gap" exists across the basolateral membrane. The osmotic difference across the apical membrane is maintained by the apical tightness of these cells.

Dissociation of ammoniagenic enzyme adaptation in rat S1 proximal tubules and ammonium excretion response

We measured ammonium production rates, phosphate-dependent glutaminase (PDG) activity, and glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) activity in microdissected S1 proximal tubules of rats to investigate the role of adaptations of PDG activity and GDH activity in response to a step increase in acid intake. In vivo ammonium excretion increased much more rapidly than did single-tubule ammonium production in vitro or ammoniagenic enzyme activities measured in microdissected tubules, manifesting an 85-fold increase in the first 24 h. In vitro ammonium production rates in microdissected tubules rose only twofold in the first 24 h, fourfold by day 2, and fivefold by day 4 of acid loading. The adaptation of PDG activity paralleled the increase in single-tubule ammoniagenic capacity measured in vitro. GDH activity, on the other hand, did not change significantly even after 4 days of acid loading. From these observations, we conclude that 1) the adaptation of in vitro ammoniagenic capacity in S1 proximal tubules is temporally associated with an adaptation in PDG activity and not GDH activity, and 2) a major portion of the increased ammonium excretion seen in the first 24 h is due to factors other than an adaptive increase in ammoniagenic enzyme activity.

Hormone and autacoid regulation of cAMP production in rat IMCD subsegments

The inner medullary collecting duct (IMCD) of the rat consists of two structurally and functionally distinct segments, i.e., the initial and the terminal IMCD. To identify factors that may regulate the transport function in the IMCD segments, we assessed whether catecholamines, carbachol, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), bradykinin, glucagon, calcitonin, parathyroid hormone, or epidermal growth factor affects adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) production in microdissected tubules in the presence and absence of arginine vasopressin (AVP, 0.1 nM). All experiments were performed in the presence of 3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine, and cAMP was measured by radioimmunoassay. Epinephrine (greater than or equal to 50 nM) and clonidine (greater than or equal to 1 microM) markedly decreased AVP-induced cAMP levels in both IMCD segments. However, phenylephrine did not show an effect. The inhibitory effect of epinephrine was blocked by yohimbine (50 nM) but not by prazosin (50 nM). In isolated perfused terminal IMCDs, epinephrine inhibited AVP-stimulated urea permeability. Isoproterenol (1 microM), in the absence of AVP, caused a significant increase in cAMP level only in the initial IMCD. Propranolol (1 microM) inhibited this isoproterenol effect, but atenolol did not. Dopamine (less than or equal to 1 microM) had no effect on cAMP levels in either IMCD segment. Carbachol, PGE2, and the various peptide hormones had no effect on cAMP levels (+/- AVP) in either IMCD segment. We conclude that an adrenergic beta 2-receptor is present only in the initial IMCD, where its occupation increases cAMP production. We conclude also that an adrenergic alpha 2-receptor is present in both IMCD segments, where its occupation inhibits AVP-induced cAMP production.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

ATP and cAMP system in the in vitro response of microdissected cortical tubules to PTH

Responsiveness of proximal convoluted tubule (PCT) and distal convoluted tubule (DCT) microdissected from mouse kidney to PTH, in terms of cAMP accumulation and stimulation of adenylate cyclase, was examined. In both PCT and DCT, the cell-free adenylate cyclase was stimulated at least 10-fold by the same dose (10 U/ml) of PTH, and activity of cAMP phosphodiesterase was about 80% higher in DCT than in PCT. In intact tubules, while the incubation with PTH increased cAMP content in DCT more than 10-fold, it failed to increase the cAMP levels in PCT. To explain discrepancies between cell-free and intact cell incubations, ATP content in microdissected tubules was determined with use of a microbioluminescence assay. ATP content in PCT (4.0 +/- 1.3 fmol/mm, n = 30) was dramatically lower than ATP content of DCT (376.8 +/- 54.3 fmol/mm, n = 25). Incubation with 1 microM rotenone reduced markedly (delta -98%) the ATP content in DCT. In DCT, with ATP depleted by 1 microM rotenone, PTH failed to increase the cAMP, although 1 microM rotenone did not inhibit the adenylate cyclase activity. When 0.1 mM of 1-methyl-3-isobutylxanthine (MIX) was added to the incubation medium, PTH caused a marked elevation in tubular cAMP in PCT and to even a greater degree in DCT. Present results show that various segments of microdissected tubules differ greatly in their ability to maintain adequate ATP levels for cAMP generation in vitro.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)