The mechanism of renin release from the ischaemic kidney.

The re-establishment of blood flow to an ischaemic kidney produced an elevation of blood pressure in the rat. This response did not occur in animals with a pithed spinal cord or in rats with low blood pressure produced by haemorrhage. When the blood pressure was raised in rats with pithed spinal cords, by the intravenous infusion of noradrenaline, the response was restored. Occlusion of the subclavian arteries did not prevent the response. It is considered that the increase in blood pressure, produced by renin release, after re-establishment of the blood flow in an ischaemic kidney is a 'washout' phenomenon independent of the integrity of the nervous system.