Endogenous opioids and electrolyte excretion after contralateral renal exclusion

Abstract

Acute reductions in functioning renal mass result in increases in both sodium (U Na V) and potassium (U K V) excretion by the contralateral kidney (CK). We studied the role of endogenous opioids in this response. In control experiments acute unilateral nephrectomy (AUN) increased U Na V from 1,788 +/- 1,125 (SD) to 3,939 +/- 1,819 and U K V from 1,385 +/- 561 to 2,254 +/- 832 neq/min by the CK (P less than 0.005 for both); similar results occurred in rats undergoing acute unilateral ureteral occlusion (UUO). These increases occurred without overall change in GFR or mean arterial pressure. In rats receiving a continuous infusion of the opiate-receptor antagonist naloxone (0.3 mg . kg-1 . h-1) neither AUN nor UUO produced significant alterations in U Na V or U K V by the CK; naloxone infusion by itself did not alter GFR or basal rates of cation excretion. A separate group of rats was made tolerant to morphine by subcutaneous implantation of pellets containing 75 mg morphine base. In these rats, AUN also failed to produce any increase in U Na V or U K V by the CK. The results suggest that acute reductions in functioning renal mass produced by either AUN or UUO stimulate cation excretion by the remaining kidney through reflex pathways that involve opiate receptors.