Effects of the microbial flora on impaired and normal kidney function

Abstract

This work was conducted as a comparative study between kidney-traumatized a and normal control, germfree/GT/,antibiotic-treated/orally/AT/ and conventional/COMV/ rats. In kidney-traumatized animals the following trends were indicated;. /1/Death in 3 to 5 days occurred 25% in GF and AT groups and 60% in the CONV groups. /2/2 to 4 days post-operation the RBF' was found essentially unchanged, in the GIF and AT rats in comparison to normal controls, while it was 30% of normal in CONV; rats. /3/ BUN was 4 times the normal in GF and AT animals and 28 times in CONV animals. /4/The ratio of Ubsm and Seosm indicated that the concentrating ability of the kidneys was well maintained in GF and AT, it was virtually lost in CONV traumatized! rats. /5/The clearance of i.v. administered, labelled thiourea into the urine and cecal lumen was markedly elevated in comparison to the low clearance of this label in CONV rats. The results indicate that in the presently studied conditions of kidney trauma the absence or reduction of the intestinal flora is advantageous to the host.