Urea Reabsorption along the Papillary Collecting Duct in Potassium-Deficient Rats

Abstract

These experiments were designed to evaluate the hypothesis that K⁺ deficiency may be associated with decreased delivery of urea to the renal papillary collecting duct and/or decreased reabsorption of urea from the papillary collecting duct. Either of these factors would result in diminished capacity for urea recycling and might explain the mechanism of the urinary concentrating defect that is observed in K⁺ depletion. Munich-Wistar rats were fed 25 ml of water and 12 g of normal (CON) or K⁺-deficient (KD) diet each day for 21 days. Papillary collecting duct samples were obtained by micropuncture through the intact ureter. Fractional delivery of H₂O to the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was increased in KD as compared to CON rats (1.50 ± 0.30% in KD vs 0.72 ± 0.09% in CON at the base, P < 0.01; and 0.55 ± 0.08% in KD vs 0.30 ± 0.05% in CON at the tip, P < 0.01). However, fractional delivery of urea to the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was not different between KD and CON rats (26.9 ± 5.6% in KD vs 21.4 ± 3.3% in CON at the base, P > 0.05; and 12.4 ± 1.5% in KD vs 10.4 ± 1.4% in CON at the tip, P> 0.05). Furthermore, reabsorption of water or urea between the base and tip of the papillary collecting duct was not decreased in KD as compared to CON rats (water reabsorption was 57.8 ± 4.4% in KD and 55.9 ± 5.11% in CON and urea reabsorption was 45.0 ± 6.5% in KD and 45.9 ± 5.4% in CON, P > 0.05). These results demonstrate that water reabsorption, but not urea reabsorption, is impaired in renal tubules proximal to the accessible papillary collecting duct in hydropenic rats.