Autoregulation of renal blood flow in two-kidney, one-clip hypertensive rats.

Renal blood flow (RBF) autoregulation was examined in the clipped and nonclipped kidneys in two groups of two-kidney, one-clip (2K-1C) hypertensive rats 10 wk after clipping. The arterial pressure distal to the clip and the renin secretion rate (RSR) were also examined. The blood pressure (BP) was 149 +/- 4 and 162 +/- 6 mmHg in the two hypertensive groups vs. 114 +/- 3 mmHg in the controls (P less than 0.02). The RBF (in ml X min-1 X kidney-1) was 4.27 +/- 0.41 in the nonclipped and 2.18 +/- 0.23 in the clipped kidneys (P less than 0.001). The pressure distal to the clip was 104 +/- 7 mmHg. The renal vascular resistance (RVR) (in mmHg X ml-1 X min-1 X g-1) was 25.0 +/- 1.4 in the control kidneys vs. 58.4 +/- 4.5 in the nonclipped (P less than 0.001) and 39.9 +/- 6.6 in the clipped kidneys (P less than 0.01). The RBF autoregulation was well preserved in the nonclipped kidneys but reset to a higher lower pressure limit of autoregulation of 106 +/- 4 mmHg, which was significantly higher than in the normotensive controls (84 +/- 6 mmHg) (P less than 0.01). In the clipped kidneys there was complete loss of RBF autoregulation. RSR decreased with reduction of the perfusion pressure in the clipped kidneys. The increased RVR might have been due to a combination of structural and functional changes in both kidneys.