Sodium excretion rates and renal responses to acute salt loading in the European starling

Abstract

Renal clearance studies were performed in European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) in order to determine the extent of ureteral sodium excretion under control conditions and during an acute, hyperosmotic salt stress. These experiments also estimated the contribution of the lower intestine (colon and cloaca) to postrenal solute reabsorption by making both cloacal and ureteral urine collections in the same birds. A comparison of ureteral vs cloacal excretion rates found significantly higher sodium (9.09±1.30 vs 1.03±0.38 μEq·kg−1·min−1) and chloride (4.15±0.56 vs 1.00±0.38 μEq·kg−1·min−1) excretion rates during the ureteral collections. Fractional excretion of sodium was also significantly higher during ureteral collections, but this value did not exceed 1% of the filtered sodium load during either collection series. Urine flow rate was significantly higher during cloacal collections, suggesting osmotic back-flux of water across the cloacal wall. Infusion of a 1M NaCl solution resulted in rapid increases in glomerular filtration rate (GFR), urine flow rate, and urine osmolality. Fractional sodium and water reabsorption decreased by 11% and 4%, respectively. Glomerular counts and size distribution profiles, measured by in vivo alcian blue labelling, provided no evidence for a reduction in the number of filtering glomeruli during hyperosmotic saline loading. We conclude that renal sodium excretion rates for the starling are similar to those seen in other avian species and in mammals. These studies also provide direct evidence for postrenal modification of urine in this species, even under conditions of continuous flow. Acute hyperosmotic salt stress can, under some conditions, cause increased rather than decreased GFR, indicating multiple regulatory pathways. Finally, there was no evidence in these studies for glomerular shutdown in response to salt loading.